The Father

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “The best film about the wages of aging since Amour eight years ago, The Father takes a bracingly insightful, subtle and nuanced look at encroaching dementia and the toll it takes on those in close proximity to the afflicted.”

  Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter · 100

• “The Father is about the suffering of old age, the importance of connection, the sick encroaching of an affliction, and ultimately, death. It doesn’t sugarcoat things, despite its sugarcoated exterior. Like its French counterpart, Michael Haneke’s Amour, it’s not an easy watch, but it’s a necessary one, a film that examines the very essence of our humanity.”

  Alex Saveliev, Film Threat · 100

• “Another powerful, mesmerizing and downright heartbreaking performance by the great Anthony Hopkins enhances The Father.”

  Rex Reed, Observer · 100

• “Sneakily utilizing production design and uncanny good editing, The Father fascinatingly puts the viewer in the same state of distress as its main character. And in adapting his own play, the director’s carried over an intimate quality of a staged chamber drama to not just show a man dealing with dementia but also offer a way into his mind with a haunting, deeply affecting and quite memorable narrative.”

  Brian Truitt, USA Today · 100

• “Hopkins makes himself transparent. He lets us see both who this man was and what he is now. There’s dignity in the crumbling facade and child-like terror in the eyes — and a warning to those who’ll be lucky enough to live so long.”

  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle · 100