The Father Review – Is The Movie Useful for Caregivers?

Have you heard about The Father? There have been some amazing The Father reviews, focusing on the film’s portrayal of dementia and family relationships. It follows the character of Anthony (played by Anthony Hopkins) and his daughter Anne (played by Olivia Colman). Anthony Hopkins won an Academy Award for his role, while Olivia Colman was nominated as Best Supporting Actress. That should give you some idea of the quality of acting involved.

It’s an impressive film all around, one that delves into a difficult and emotional topic, yet does so with compassion and surprising realism.

Here at Kapok, we were fascinated with the film came out, so we watched it for ourselves. We were interested to see how well The Father tackles dementia and families – along with whether it does so accurately.

So, in this The Father review I’ll be talking about my thoughts after watching The Father and the lessons that the film has for caregivers.

My Experience Of The Father

Anthony and Anne sitting and talking during The Father

Let’s start this The Father review by talking about The Father just as a film.

I found it fascinating and complex in equal measure. Like many audience members, I went into the film knowing that the main character has Alzheimer’s disease and that some of the film is told from his perspective.

Well… that’s not quite right.

The film is still told in the traditional third-person manner and we see scenes that Anthony wouldn’t have been privy to and don’t appear to be imagined.

The difference is that the audience’s sense of reality is twisted in the same way that Anthony’s is. Time becomes distorted and everything is presented as if it was real and happening in that moment, even when it’s clear that this isn’t the case at all.

At times, Anthony is living in his own apartment. At others, he appears to be living with his divorced daughter Anne. Then there’s a man in the picture too. Her husband, it seems, even though Anne claimed to be single just moments earlier.

The shifts and changes start slowly.

For a while, it seems like Anthony is competent and that the film begins before he is experiencing any serious issues. It doesn’t take long for the cracks to begin to show and that’s where the real ride begins.

If you pay attention, you might notice strange shifts in the environment too, like the kitchen cabinets being a different color from one scene to the next or a lamp moving position.

The reason is that Anthony’s mind is blurring multiple memories together – at times living with his daughter and her then-husband, later living with his daughter alone after her divorce, then being told that his daughter is leaving for Paris.

This style of storytelling means that The Father isn’t a film you can relax to. You need to pay close attention to see what is going on and, even then, you’ll probably be confused much of the time. That’s okay though. The confusion is part of the point and is masterfully done.

It’s A Difficult Movie To Watch – In More Ways Than One

Let’s get one thing straight. The Father isn’t an easy film to watch.

The subject matter alone makes it difficult. While between 5% and 8% of the population over 60 lives with dementia, the topic is one we often avoid.

There’s a fear surrounding dementia. Perhaps this isn’t so surprising, as there’s no cure for the condition, it can seem to come out of nowhere, and many of us have no idea what to expect. If you know someone with dementia, as many of us do, then The Father might be even more emotional for you.

This isn’t the type of movie to give you a feel-good ending either. That type of ending wouldn’t feel right for an illness like dementia that gets worse over time.

The Father is also confusing.

At the beginning, it looks like any other film. But, it isn’t long before you realize that the storyline doesn’t make sense. There’s confusion about whether Anne is married or not, whether Anthony is living in his own apartment or hers, and who different people are.

The confusion is all intentional, as the director wanted the audience to have an experience much like Anthony’s own. As part of this, there’s no easy way to tell what is actually occurring, what is a memory, what is a dream, and what isn’t happening at all.

In fact, if you didn’t know the subject matter of the film, you might initially think that it is a psychological thriller, where the people in Anthony’s life are manipulating and taking advantage of him.

After watching the movie once, you might still be confused about the real sequence of events versus Anthony’s experience.

Honestly, I didn’t fully understand the events of the movie until I read a review a little alter on.

Still, the confusion in the movie is part of the point. One of the main take-home messages of the movie is that dementia patients often don’t understand what’s happening around them.

The Father is powerful in this sense. It shows the complexity of dementia and highlights the fact that people with the condition aren’t just forgetting things – their entire sense of reality is being shifted.

Is The Father Real?

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