ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

ElMaruecan82 Before reviewing the Dardennes brothers "The Son", I needed to check the trailer. The reason was simple: did they reveal why the character of Olivier (Olivier Gourmet) was so intrigued and focused on the kid? They didn't. And the trailer only shows a scene with his ex-wife asking if the boy is the "one" then bursting out of anger and fainting. The mysterious kid wants to help, Olivier shouts at him to stay away. The only bits of dialogue heard are "it's him" and "why do you do that?".So the surprise must come from the film. And if I could encourage someone to watch the film without spoiling it, I would say this is a movie about an ordinary man, a carpentry teacher in rehab school, who seems obsessed by a kid who comes from a juvenile detention center. He peeps over him for the first ten minutes and then decides to take him for his courses, the man is divorced and his ex-wife announces her remarriage and pregnancy. He doesn't take it in all stride but his reaction shows a mix of anger and resignation that doesn't strike us as odd. The film deals with the interaction between Olivier and Francis, a teenager who looks lost and tacitly looking for help.That's the situation, now, what do you make of a title like "The Son"? We've seen enough movies to anticipate that Francis is Olivier's hidden son. The Dardennes brothers are straight shooters and never use symbolical titles... or it's got to be about a father-and-son relationship, with a wound from the past and some potential catharsis from this relationship. Or is there something darker or more poignant in that "secret"? Viewers aren't given much time to endure the suspense as the revelation comes early adding suspense to drama like in a Cassavetes' film. And it works.After the success of "The Promise" and "Rosetta" (Golden Palm winner), the Dardennes decided to dedicate their next feature film to their fetish actor Olivier Gourmet. Like Gérard Jugnot for French Cinema, this actor looks so exceptionally banal he can be believable in any movie exploiting the reality of Belgian society in general and humanity as a whole. I believed the man was a carpenter all his life, I believed every word from him and I couldn't believe he was capable to do anything harmful or bizarre if it wasn't uncalled for. And that impression is crucial to appreciate the film because we're put in a situation that will call for a confrontation, sooner or later, the mystery is all in the "when and how it will happen?".As Gourmet said, you can play many expressions or feelings but "I don't know?". He was constantly asked to be neutral, not to let any obvious emotions slip because his psychological journey was tough enough and his interaction with (Morgan Marinne) so awkward that it didn't need to be overplayed. The angle taken by Gourmet shows how much an acting genius he is and how he truly deserved the award at Cannes Festival. Gourmet didn't play "I don't know", but played a man driven by contradictory forces, one driven by instinct and one pushing him back, revealing how rational and truly human he was. At parts, avidly stares at Morgan when he's not looking and get neutral when they make eye contact.And you have the camera of the Dardennes brothers following the man through the school's narrow corridors, the kitchen, the offices, the car, and getting the two closer then further then closer again. We all know it will lead to a resolution, if not a solution, but again with the Dardennes, the journey matters more than the destination and the ending has every merit including the most important one: to be satisfactory, conclusive and believable. And it truly consecrates the talent of Gourmet as one of the greatest and most underrated actors of French-speaking Cinema and the perfect foil for the Dardennes, ever since their first collaboration in "The Premise" where he played a flawed father. Interestingly, that film was about a kid trying to get off his father's bad influence, while "The Son" leads to a reunion.And I remember my initial reactions with the Dardennes, I naively thought they were only taking the camera and followed the actors like in a documentary. But "The Son" is full of master-shots and close-ups, many were shot multiple times at different paces to play safe as the Dardennes clearly didn't want to miss their first film where Gourmet as the lead (notice that the character was named Olivier in that sense so they could think of his own body while making it). Reciprocally, Gourmet couldn't ignore the Dardennes' camera either. It might look like cinema-vérité but the actors know where the camera is placed, Gourmet can make a gesture that shows good acting but that goes unnoticed by the camera and then the effect is lost. A Dardennes brother was the last movie I expected someone to point out the necessity to remember there's a camera behind.I mentioned Cassavetes, his movies felt improvised but they were not, he let his own truth implode in front of the camera but never forgot it started with an eye watching you, even Bergman never forgot that pact with the camera. And that's the essence of the Dardennes' talent as well, they don't tell, they show, they use acting and interacting as the vehicle of their plot, everything is left to our attentive eyes, it's all in way we see them... and even the climactic resolution is all visual. You can be a Nolan, a Spielberg or a Chazelle, but the minimalist talent the Dardennes showcases might be even more difficult to reach, because without budget, special effects and marketing, you can't take any chances, you only have the truth to hang on and that has no price.

wim-vds It took me half an hour to get into it....but once you're in... it will not easily leave you..... if you want action , watch something else. If you want something to think about.... this is a special brilliant award winning Belgian-Walloon film! The Dardenne brothers have been awarded many times at the Cannes film festival.

Hendrik Kleve The brothers tried to make an interesting story, but it was boring, too long about one person: the boy about whom anything is all about. What sad to see a failed movie made by such outstanding filmdirectors. It reminds me of what David Lynch made once: Blue velvet. Afterwards he never reached this level of craftmanship again... Fortunately after this movie they made every time a better and more interesting movie for the general serious minded arthouse admireres.

lasttimeisaw With a stalking hand-held camera relentlessly recording the kitchen-sink execution of a hyperbolical subject matter - retribution and redemption, Dardenne brothers downplay the excessive theatricality and map out a distinctively mundane presentation of the most authentic and accurate learning curve about tackling unbearable ire and haunting guilt, from which derives a sensitively tangible proxy-father-and-son bond. Olivier (Gourmet), an instructor in a teenager rehab center voluntarily takes on Francis (Marinne), the murderer of his infant son 5 years ago, as his apprentice, who is 16 now and unbeknownst of his instructor's real identity, so is the audience until halfway through when Olivier converses with his newly-pregnant ex-wife (Soupart), and from then on, what is left for viewers is to wait quietly and see how the bubble bursts, an inevitable confrontation will show the true color of both. But cleverly, Dardenne brothers never bother to stoke the climax with usual filmic antics, all the tension has been heaped up simultaneously with the everyday proceeding, and very much inked with ingenious details (such as Olivier refuses to pay for Francis' lunch money when they grab a bite in a cafeteria), also, without the intruding music scores, THE SON is a cinematic fruit of its own kind, austere, voyeuristic and persistent, yet can easily generate the power of catharsis and has no worries about overkill. The ending has a great aftertaste if a first-timer may feel abrupt to a certain extent, there is a tacit understanding for both characters after the grapple, it is subtle and sensible, we don't know if they can reconcile since the scenario would not seemingly exist in a real world, but thanks to the creators' mind's eyes, it is no doubt a heartfelt film lays bare the universal sense of empathy in such a dire situation. Gourmet and Marinne form an interesting pair with an invisible barrier between them, there is no showy parts but still a demanding job for both actors, an epitome in Dardenne brothers' oeuvres, Gourmet immerse himself fully into the character-building, mostly by body languages, but 2002 is a strong year for my film-viewing, so he nearly cracks into my Top 10 list, but Dardenne brothers again strut into the top tier and my personal appreciation for them is continuing ascending (after THE CHILD 2005, 7/10; LORNA'S SILENCE 2008, 8/10 and THE KID WITH A BIKE 2011, 8/10)!