Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman and Academy Award winner Laura Dern will star in The Son, writer-director Florian Zeller’s follow-up to the Bafta winning and Academy Award nominated The Father. Academy Award winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (Ammonite, Lion, The King’s Speech), and Joanna Laurie of See-Saw Films, produce with Christophe Spadone (The Father) alongside Zeller. Film4 are co-financing production.
Adapted by Zeller and Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton (The Father, Dangerous Liaisons, Atonement), from Zeller’s acclaimed stage play, The Son reveals Peter (Hugh Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Emma and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas.
We sense something is amiss from the first moment we meet Nicholas. He is troubled, distant, and angry, playing truant from school for months – both son and mother need his father’s help. Nicholas’s wish is to live with his father for a change.
Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with those intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness – to solve, with understanding, what Nicholas is going through. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course. They must do everything they can to maintain the bonds that hold them together.
Writer-director Florian Zeller says, “The Son is a deeply human story which, I believe, connects us all; I hope audiences will be profoundly moved by this family’s journey. Both Hugh and Laura naturally convey great warmth, compassion, and vulnerability… inviting our audience to embrace and feel every moment. The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character. The movie should make us call family and friends to tell them that they are wholly loved and not alone.”
Florian Zeller is currently enjoying acclaim for his debut movie The Father, released in the US by Sony Pictures Classics on 26th February. The film has won two BAFTAs and is nominated for six academy Awards for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Production Design, Leading Actor and Supporting Actress.
See-Saw’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman say, “Having been lucky enough to see The Father at Sundance 2019 we knew that Florian was a uniquely talented filmmaker. The Son is a story that needs to be told – a story that rings an alarm. Through examining the human condition and our vulnerabilities, this film will strike a chord with audiences and leave an indelible mark on all who see it.”
Embankment’s Tim Haslam says, “For the audience, The Son is visceral, authentic, compelling, and cathartic; intimately close to decisions that many families have to make. The Son makes us respond, reconnect with those around us, with the gift of understanding and awareness.”
Executive Producers are Hugh Jackman, Simon Gillis for See-Saw Films, Daniel Battsek, Lauren Dark and Ollie Madden for Film4, Philippe Carcassonne for Ciné-@ and Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar for Embankment.
