Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SON [Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The texture of loyalty and trauma and the notion of protection revolve in a genre structure some interesting ways in "Son". While not giving away the structure in which the story is held, the idea of perspective and perception takes a very unusual feel. While the texture of paranoia is very apparent, the film interestingly enough plays with the idea of cause and effect. While it skirts a very specific line, the journey of the lead character, a mother who underwent her own trauma, is a very visceral one, but again is susceptible to the idea of connection. As the film moves forward, the darkness becomes more apparent on what the mother will do to save her child. While the film is set in Kansas in an indeterminate time where old cartoons still play on antiquated TVs, the film itself was made in part by Screen Ireland since director Ivan Kavanagh is from Dublin (though the film itself was shot in Mississippi). It is interesting seeing the influence of the Bible Belt and how it integrates with the structure of the film in terms of how an Irish director sees this part of America and its paradoxes. Andi Matichak plays the mother with decided strength but also an aspect of vulnerability and disjointed logic which is sometimes at odds at the situations she is placed in. The supernatural/mythology aspect does key in as does the texture of cults but it ultimately comes back to a mother protecting her son against all odds. Emile Hirsch, not seen in as many visible films lately, plays a police investigator and, while he gets some moments to shine, it is for the most part a thankless role that most actors could have played. Also his character's logic in both its progression (though warranted eventually) for the most part in the trajectory of the movie, feels peppered with plot holes. In doing so, it disconnects the viewer from the character. Ultimately though, "Son" has to do with texture of fate and family in a disconcerting world. C

By Tim Wassberg