Written and directed by leading actor Mark McAuley, an ambitious businessman struggling with life has one last opportunity to say goodbye to his estranged dad. Also starring: Ronan Wilmot, Lacy Moore and Clara Fitzgerald.
Caring for a relative in their final days is a difficult experience to begin with, but one that gets intensely more complicated when the relationship is strained. There’s an inherent conflict of wanting to help, being expected to help, while not actually wanting to spend time with that person, being unable to ignore the past, or looking for closure while there’s still time. It’s a complex situation, one that Mark McAuley admirably aims to tackle with Father.
With both the direction and the atmosphere, McAuley sets a great emotional tone. It’s one that’s humble and relatable, particularly when it’s capturing James’ (McAuley) exasperation. The movement of the directorial style works well, to keep things slightly on edge and reflect his intense discomfort with the situation, as well as its sadness. The balance between the two is well done, to create something that isn’t resentful or angry, while still capturing those difficulties and hesitancy.
Film fans may recognise Ronan Wilmot from his appearances in In the Name of Father, The General or The Butcher Boy, here he takes on a much more vulnerable role as James’ dying father, Peter. Wilmot does a great job of portraying that mix of illness, confusion and fear of mortality pushing his character to seek forgiveness and be able to find peace in his final moments with his son. He also adds a touch of the physical to sell the performance, which may work for some more than others, the eating, drinking, coughing, clearing of the throat noises can detract from the atmosphere, but are also a fair choice to add to the reality of it.
While Mark McAuley leans into the more traditionally emotional performance. Portraying the internal conflict and struggle to come to terms with the situation. He does well to get that frustration and impatience across in a way that’s relatable and sympathetic. You can understand his reasons in not rushing to his father’s side but still see that his intentions are good. Lacy Moore and Clara Fitzgerald were both great additions to help with that balance, they bring a lovely gentleness and empathy.
While the direction feels strong, the cinematography can tend to struggle. The colouring in particular is heavily beige, losing some of its detail with the foreground and the background being too matching. The score can feel overwhelming, it’s strongly in the forefront and needed to settle a bit more subtly into the background to let the emotional vein hold onto its natural feel. The story also just misses the mark as it needed a bit of further development to explain why James and Peter’s relationship broke down. It works to establish the tone, and you can get a vague idea, but to add a resounding note to its finale, it doesn’t quite have enough detail.
Father takes on a heavy topic and does so with an earnest, everyday hand to make things feel real and unglamourised. The cinematography isn’t quite able to bring the depth the film is calling for, but Mark McAuley’s direction and Jeffrey Doyle’s editing do well to establish a strong atmosphere and sincere emotional tone. The performances are grounded, and though it can come on a bit strong with the score and with its final scenes, overall it has a tense, touching and humble quality.
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