The Son is a 2022 drama film directed by Florian Zeller (The Father) from a screenplay written by himself and Christopher Hampton. It is based on Zeller's 2018 stage play of the same name and serves as a prequel to 2020's The Father. The film stars Hugh Jackman (Prisoners, Logan), Laura Dern (Little Women, Marriage Story), Vanessa Kirby (About Time, Mission: Impossible - Fallout), Zen McGrath, and Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, The Father).
A couple of years after his parents’ divorce, 17-year-old Nicholas (McGrath) no longer feels he can stay with his mother, Kate (Dern). He moves in with his father Peter (Jackman) and Peter’s new partner Beth (Kirby). Juggling work, his and Beth’s new baby, and the offer of his dream job in Washington, Peter tries to care for Nicholas as he wishes his own father (Hopkins) had cared for him. But by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto the Nicholas in the present.
The Son had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2022, and was released for a limited one-week theatrical run in New York City and Los Angeles on November 25, 2022, before a wide release in the United States on January 20, 2023, by Sony Pictures Classics. Check out the official trailer below.