The Father

Many fine films past have depicted the onset of dementia (or Alzheimer’s) from the outside, witnessing the memory loss and distressed loved ones as the disease worsens. The Father puts viewers in the head of aging Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) as he struggles with his confused reality. Who is the man in his living room? What was it his daughter told him? Who, even, is his daughter? And is it his living room?

The plot is less important than the way Anthony responds to various situations. A new caregiver (Imogen Poots) inspires an uncomfortable standup routine of inventions, jokes, and fury. News that his daughter, his chief advocate, is moving to France spurs anger, tears, and confusion. It’s a bravura performance from Hopkins, who deservedly scored one of the movie’s six Academy Award nominations, which also included Best Supporting Actress (recent winner Olivia Colman) and Best Picture.

One nomination is for the smart, intricately structured screenplay, by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) and Florian Zeller, based on Zeller’s play. The movie, directed by Zeller, has the claustrophobic feel of many stage adaptations, but here it’s integral to the storytelling — Anthony is trapped in more ways than one. More important, the script has the articulate, heartfelt dialogue of a fine stage drama, and the finely honed performances to pull it off.

In addition to Hopkins and Colman, there’s another British Olivia, Olivia Williams, a talented, accomplished actress still largely undiscovered by American audiences. (She stars with J.K. Simmons in the brilliant, little-seen TV series Counterpart, which you must check out if you have Amazon Prime.) The roles Williams and two male co-stars — Mark Gatiss and Rufus Sewell — play are revealed slowly, as the movie gradually sorts through Anthony’s confusion.

Zeller wrote the original play in French; Hampton translated it to English. Frank Langella won a Tony for playing the lead on Broadway in 2016. The film may not rack up any Oscars — Hopkins is up against the late, beloved Chadwick Boseman — but it’s definitely one of the best family dramas of this COVID year, capturing, unintentionally, some of our sense of isolation and dislocation in our own homes. Ironically, it’s also one of the few Oscar contenders you have leave your home to see, at a movie theater, at least for the moment.

Grade: A. Rated PG-13. Now playing at Asheville’s Carolina Cinemark. Plays March 19-21 only at Flat Rock Cinema.

(Photo: Sony Pictures Classics)