My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

"The mystery isn't who. But why."

2010 1h 31m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🥫

51%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 236🥫51%Rotten Tomatoes●59Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 10,872

CrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Brad has committed murder and barricaded himself inside his house. With the help of his friends and neighbours, the cops piece together the strange tale of how this nice young man arrived at such a dark place.

“The mystery isn't who. But why.”

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Cast

Michael Shannon
Brad McCullum
Willem Dafoe
Detective Hank Havenhurst
Chloë Sevigny
Ingrid
Brad Dourif
Uncle Ted
Michael Peña
Detective Vargas
Loretta Devine
Miss Roberts
Udo Kier
Lee Meyers
Grace Zabriskie
Mrs. McCullum

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Werner Herzog
Writers: Werner Herzog, Herbert Golder
Languages: Polish, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Polish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Werner Herzog, shot by Peter Zeitlinger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ernst Reijseger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joe Bini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Shannon and Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The mystery isn't who. But why.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Werner Herzog directs. Peter Zeitlinger behind the camera. Ernst Reijseger scores. Joe Bini cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Polish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Polish, English.
4Directed by Werner Herzog, shot by Peter Zeitlinger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ernst Reijseger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Joe Bini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Shannon and Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The mystery isn't who. But why.".
9IMDB entry: tt1233219 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "detective", "surrealism", "flashback", "murder".