Sunday, June 5, 2022

(2021) My Son - An Interesting and Intriguing Drama Mystery with Some Wonderful Performance by James McAvoy

Last night I was feeling adventurous and decided to watch a new movie on HBO Go that I was not aware at all, but seemed to have interesting premise. Plus it starred quite famous names as well. So I gave it a try immediately after coming home from hanging out with my wife. OK, let's get started now.

Brief Story Line

Edmond Murray (James McAvoy - His Dark Materials TV series, Glass etc) was called back from his work to his hometown in a small town in Scotland where his ex wife Joan (Claire Foy - First Man, Breathe etc) told him their 7 year old son Ethan had been missing. The lead investigator was Inspector Roy (Gary Lewis - Outlander TV series etc) who together with the local police force were trying to locate Ethan near the camp where he went missing.

As they had to take break on finding Ethan, Edmond decided to stay in Joan's home where she was living with her new partner Frank (Tom Cullen - Knightfall TV series etc). As time was running out, Edmond was so desperate that he started to suspect something else and decided to investigate by himself.

So what actually happened to Ethan and how would the story conclude? You can find them all in this film.

End of Brief Story Line

As I said above, I gave this movie a try as it seemed to have an interesting premise but I did not have high expectations at all. So when the movie started off immediately with the information of the missing child and we were introduced to the main characters, I actually felt the pace was a bit slow. Not that I am complaining as I already had a feeling that it would be slow burn. However, to my surprise, half way through the movie, it picked up the pace and the movie became quite suspenseful.

This actually made me appreciate the movie better as apart from the drama, there was a bit of intensity. Obviously the main attraction for me was the way it managed to intrigued me of what actually happened to Ethan. Nevertheless, despite the growing suspense as well as the intense moments in the second half, it did not give me that absolutely amazed feeling, although I had to say that I was a bit entertained by it.

The movie's tone was dark & gloomy as what you would expect in this sort of drama. The cast did their job nicely, especially James McAvoy. In the official trailer, it was stated that he was never given a script so he had to improvise the dialogues and also to get his genuine expressions. No wonder the words on the poster mentioned "A Groundbreaking Achievement in Filmmaking where both actor and audience uncover a mystery at the same time". It's just absolutely incredible on his side. Anyway, I also noticed during the closing credit that the movie was a remake of the a French movie titled Mon garçon which translated literally to My Son. Both of these movies were directed by Christian Carion who had won numerous awards for his 2005 movie Joyeux Noël

For a mystery drama thriller, I thought this one was pretty OK. It was a bit slow at first but once reaching the half way, it became suspenseful and it had an interesting ending. With a duration of only 95 minutes including closing credits, it was just nice. So if you are looking for something different like this, then you can give it a try. But if your passion is more action, then this one is not for you. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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