MY SON (2021) – Another remarkable performance by James McAvoy

My Son is a remake of a 2017 French movie of the same name. In fact it is directed by the same French director Christian Canon who also penned the original story. It tells the story of a father trying to find his young son back after he was taken away from a nature camp. James McAvoy plays the father, while Claire Foy whom we all remember so very well playing a younger Queen Elizabeth in Seasons One and Two, plays his ex-wife. While the story seems straightforward enough, what sets My Son apart from other movies about missing kids, is in its delivery as well as through its performances.

The main talking point about My Son is its claim that the main actor, James McAvoy had to perform the entire movie without a script! Apparently all he was given was a brief outline and background of his character while the rest of the cast received their full script as normal. He was basically asked to put on his creativity to act and react to the situation as his character discovers new things and facts surrounding the disappearance of his son. The idea was for McAvoy to convey a raw and real sense of what his character is going through. I wished I had been aware of this BEFORE I watched the movie as I would have definitely paid more attention to how McAvoy performed. I did felt that James McAvoy’s performance was the outstanding one in the entire movie as he dominated most of the screen time. There was a level of rawness to his performance much like what one would expect from an independent or arthouse movie. His behaviour in some of the scenes upon reflection, were quite unexpected and unconventional which I guess was a direct result of this “experimental” form of acting. Admittedly the dialogue wasn’t much to shout about as the role became more physical than vocal. Claire Foy who plays the ex-wife, had a much smaller role and was predominantly quite forgettable.

Apart from the performances, the overall look and feel of the movie was surprisingly much better than expected from a low budget and small movie of this nature. The surrounding highlands of Scotland were beautifully captured and provided a lush landscape as the film’s background. The small details given to the sound effects in many of the outdoor scenes, was also a pleasant surprise which provided an added level of involvement to the viewers.

My only gripe is that the ending seemed a bit rushed and left the explanation for several things that happened in the film earlier, unanswered. I am not sure whether director / writer Christian Canon had intentionally left these open ended or that these were not covered because of how James McAvoy plowed through the story, without making further references to these.

All in all, My Son to be a good watch as I found it interesting and very captivating.