This movie troubled me. As a father to a teenage boy it resonated deeply. Let me start off by saying that the effects of divorce on children can be massive. This is a fact based in reality. I've heard countless spiral stories including my own wife's where divorce was a cataclysmic explosion that nearly ended their own lives. Coupled with mental illness the result can often be tragic and perhaps impossible to recover from. In any case the acting here was brilliant on all fronts. Jackman was completely believable and the son nailed his part as a disturbed young man. I wanted so badly for things to end better but my rationale knew better. Would things have changed if the gun was removed from the picture? If the parents had left him at the psychiatric ward? Who knows. It could have merely delayed the inevitable. The boy was so troubled it would seem irreparable. In any case this film is designed with one grand purpose of that I am certain. To magnify and evangelize two colossal social issues: suicide awareness and mental health crisis. These are no joke and need to be addressed and berated even until we can attempt to find any cure. The film was a steady ascent up the mountain of doom and the climax was predictable. It simply didn't get better. The tragedy of what could have been haunts me. The scene where the son is at the hospital and cries out to his dad, "you know me!" nearly ripped me in half. All I know is that after watching this I hugged my son goodnight with a purposeful and emphatic grip that caused him to ask if everything was ok. I hope it is my little man. By God I pray it is.
Review of The Son
