This week we are reviewing The Son, the 2022 drama directed by Florian Zeller — the filmmaker behind The Father — and starring Hugh Jackman as Peter, a successful New York lawyer who has rebuilt his life after divorce with a new partner Beth, played by Vanessa Kirby, and a newborn baby.
When his ex wife Kate, played by Oscar winner Laura Dern, arrives with their seventeen year old son Nicholas — who has stopped going to school, is self harming and is in crisis — Nicholas moves in with Peter.
Peter tries to fix it. He cannot fix it.
Sir Anthony Hopkins appears in one scene, written specifically for him, as Peter's own father. With a cast like this you would think this was going to be an absolute belter.
Please note before listening — this episode deals directly with teenage mental health, self harm and suicide.
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636. Lifeline: 13 11 14. Headspace for young people aged 12 to 25: headspace.org.au. Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800. If someone is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero.
The pre-film chat this week finds the Scotsman at a newly opened wine bar he and the Aussie visited together — and which managed to frustrate him in almost every possible way. Not enough chairs, a layout that could not decide what it wanted to be, a policy on splitting bills that made no sense, and a manager who doubled down on every single one of those decisions rather than just fixing them.
On the film itself the two find common ground in unexpected places. The cast is extraordinary. The subject matter is as important as it gets.
The Scotsman comes prepared in a way that genuinely surprises the Aussie mid-episode — delivering real statistics on teenage mental health in Australia, what depression actually looks like in a teenager versus an adult, why the instinct to fix things is precisely the wrong response, and what parents should actually do when a child discloses they are struggling.
Where they diverge is on the film itself. The Scotsman identifies two significant plot failures that undermine the emotional weight of everything around them — including one so obvious he cannot believe it made the final cut.
The Aussie is more forgiving but does not entirely disagree. Both land on the same conclusion — the subject matter deserves a better film than this, and that is precisely why they are doing the episode.
The Hopkins connection to The Father is explored in detail. The Scotsman's closing thought on what Zeller was actually saying by casting the same actor in both films is, in the Scotsman's own words, very clever indeed.
Aussie: 2.2 out of 5 for the film. 5 out of 5 for the conversation it opens. Scotsman: 3.2 out of 5. No jokes at the end of this one. Both of them mean it.
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