After reading a handful of reviews from other writers, I had high hopes for Son. To say I was let down would more than likely win a prestigious award at the Understatement of the Year ceremony 2021. While Son wasn’t without a dash of gore and chills, a dash is as far as this slow, ill-acted, and drawn-out budget movie goes. In fact, let’s instead say a ‘light dusting’.
Son – The Plot
If I was to hazard a guess, I would say writer-stroke-director Ian Kavanagh thought up the idea for this uneventful contribution while in the shower, on the toilet or waiting for a bus. The veil-thin plotline surrounds a woman and her inexplicably cannibalistic son. The movie makes very little attempt at unrolling a narrative. Instead, Kavanagh seems to have left holes for the viewer to somehow fill in his or herself. The result of this is a medley of confusion, boredom and clock-watching.
Lost Potential
If you squint your eyes and tilt you head a little to the left you can just about make out the tinniest of glimmers of potential in Son, it’s just a real shame that there is very little display of this in the 98-minutes I spent watching it (which I probably won’t ever get back). Son takes a bad idea on paper, and somehow makes the end-product even worse. With a little more action, this could have maybe even reached ‘tolerable status’, but as it stands, it’s a far cry from even that.
The Talent
I use this word very loosely as I saw very little talent throughout the whole movie. The characters all seem bored, depressed, or bored and depressed. There’s a handful of scenes which I enjoyed, and at these moments even the actors seemed to pick up a little. However, the majority of this budget horror flick is flat, dull and lacklustre.
SPOILER ALERT
To follow the theme of the movie, Son somehow managed to remain predictable and uninspiring from credits-to-credits. Son’s ending was guessed within the first third of the movie and the entirety offers very little in the way of surprise. The ending only goes to open up a multitude of questions rather than following the laws of logic and answering the many questions the sketchy plot arises.
The ending of the movie, leaves the chances of a sequel open; I just hope that it never happens. No one deserves to endure one of these movies, let alone two.
Summary
If you can’t get to sleep then I would highly recommend Son; it would be the perfect replacement for even the strongest of sleeping tablets. However, if you’re looking for a deep storyline, acceptable acting or even a scare, then I would look elsewhere.
The movie isn’t completely without it’s merits, however. There’s a sprinkling of moments that cause something somewhat resembling fear, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. With very few scenes to hold attention and keep the pace rolling are few and far between. Out of the 98-minutes, there’s probably around 4-minutes of decent, watchable material; the rest is boring, pointless and dull.
