Hi everyone!
Welcome back to a review for the first of three Netflix Originals this week. Keith and Garrett will be back later in the week for the other two, but today we have a Spanish and French vengeance thriller. For a few other films in this vein, check out “The Warning” (Episode #213), “Perdida” (Episode #227), “Gun City” (Episode #311), and “When Angels Sleep” (Episode #364). And if you have any favorites, let us know at onemoviepunch.com or reach out over social media.
Here we go!
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Today’s movie is “Your Son”, the Netflix Original thriller directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas and written for the screen in collaboration with Alberto Marini. The film follows Jaime Jiménez (Jose Coronado), a Sevillian doctor who receives a call that his son, Marcos (Pol Monen), was beaten into a coma and is currently at the hospital. Now Jaime begins his own investigation into the attack, and uncovers way more than he bargained for.
No spoilers.
But a massive, massive trigger warning to anyone who wants to see this film. It involves some pretty brutal violence, and a graphic scene of sexual assault. One that made me very uncomfortable. So, while I won’t be referencing that scene in the review, please be aware before watching the film.
I’m not sure what to make about films that emphasize dark realism. Horror films make great use of dark realism, everything from realistic slasher films to a wide array of torture porn, all driven by taking dark ideas to an extreme. Dark realism was also a huge staple of film noir, especially before the production code was established, but also with revivals in the 1970s and 1980s, for instance Polanski’s infamous “Chinatown” (Episode #271), and a few other more recent examples like the Scottish highlands thriller “Calibre” (Episode #189) and the recent Spanish neo-noir thriller “When Angels Sleep” (Episode #364). And the key to all forms of dark realism is how the viewer answers the question, “How much are you willing to take?”. And the answer for me with today’s film was “not that much”.
The story begins like any other revenge thriller, although Jaime is by no means a Charles Bronson or Liam Neeson type of character. Jaime is a surgeon that works long hours and struggles with a smoking habit, whose life gets turned upside down after his son’s attack. Naturally, he wants answers, and details, especially since no one comes forward with any leads. His emotional and psychological states continue to deteriorate, with what turns into obsessive behavior in his search for the truth, which puts him in legal, and later mortal jeopardy. His greatest flaw, though, is only asking what happened and who did it, not the more important question of why. And when that question gets answered, the film takes an even darker turn, one so dark that I had to tap out. I’m willing to endure a lot of darkness if there’s a larger point to be made because of it, but here, the stakes were simultaneously too high on a personal level and too pedestrian on a social level to make the journey worth it.
Jose Coronado does a decent job with Jaime’s story, such as it is, putting a lot of emotion into the perhaps too many solo scenes. The film is produced pretty well overall, but didn’t always come together. Many scenes were accompanied by sparsely composed jazz segments, intending to bring a neo-noir feel to Jaime’s story, but also clashing with the scenes driven by overwhelming club music. I did appreciate the use of mobile technology and videos, and the ways in which they were edited into the film, but had a hard time believing such evidence would exist in the first place. I also felt, given the ending, that the audience ends up being emotionally manipulated, and while that can be a sign of effective filmmaking, it can also lead to some pretty hard feelings with the wrong audience.
“Your Son” is a depressing downward spiral of one man’s quest for vengeance over his son’s beating-induced coma. The film drifts ever darker, until the moment everything comes to be known, and then we’re taken into some incredibly dark places. Viewers with strong stomachs and a high tolerance for dark realism may want to check out this film, but I would strongly advise against most viewers making the effort, as it ultimately ends up in a very disappointing and disturbing place.
Rotten Tomatoes: NR
Metacritic: NR
One Movie Punch: 4.8/10
“Your Son” (2018) is rated TV-MAand is currently playing on Netflix.
