My Son

"A groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking where both actor and audience uncover a mystery at the same time."

2021 1h 35m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 539

ThrillerCrimeDrama

Synopsis

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When a man's only son goes missing, he travels to the town where his ex-wife lives in search of answers. [To play a man whose life is clouded by mystery, McAvoy will not be given a script of dialogue.]

“A groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking where both actor and audience uncover a mystery at the same time.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

James McAvoy
Edmond Murray
Claire Foy
Joan Richmond
Tom Cullen
Frank
Gary Lewis
Inspector Roy
Michael Moreland
William O'Connor
Robert Jack
Alan
Owen Whitelaw
Fergus
Paul Rattray
Steven

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Christian Carion
Writers: Laure Irrmann, Christian Carion, Christian Carion
Languages: English, Gaelic
Countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, 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

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Gaelic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Christian Carion, shot by Éric Dumont. 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 Laurent Perez del Mar. 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 Loïc Lallemand 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

James McAvoy and Claire Foy and Tom Cullen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking where both actor and audience uncover a mystery at the same time.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christian Carion directs. Éric Dumont behind the camera. Laurent Perez del Mar scores. Loïc Lallemand cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Gaelic.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Gaelic.
3International production across 4 countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Christian Carion, shot by Éric Dumont. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Laurent Perez del Mar. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Loïc Lallemand shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7James McAvoy and Claire Foy and Tom Cullen carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking where both actor and audience uncover a mystery at the same time.".
9IMDB entry: tt13234058 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "scotland", "young boy", "improvisation", "missing child".

The technical file

Cinematography: Éric Dumont
Original score: Laurent Perez del Mar
Editing: Loïc Lallemand
Production design: Laurel Wear
Costume design: Carole Millar
VFX supervisor: Geoffrey Niquet
Sound: Florent Lavallée
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $962,689
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: My Son (2021)

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Christian Carion

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Giovanni2022-02-09
★ 6/10
Full Analysis at Spotamovie.com - Intro - My Son is an experimental project. As in the French project, the protagonist, James McAvoy, in the role of Edmond Murray, didn’t receive the script of the movie. Therefore, he improvised his dialogues while all the other actors knew their roles and talks. An interesting experiment. But did it work? We will tell you in the analysis section below. We can say now that My Son is not your typical thriller and that you will fall in love with the spectacular landscapes of the Highlands of Scotland. Instead, the film highlights the role of justice and a different way to approach it. We will tell you more later in our analysis. - The Story - Edmond is going back to his ex-wife because their son disappeared. The police start their investigation, discovering several details about our characters and hidden secrets. Their son vanished among all the boys; we and the police want to know why he? What happened? How Ethan’s parents are going to deal with his absence? A thriller opens a lot of questions, are we going to find our answers? Let’s dive into our analysis at https://www.spotamovie.com/my-son-movie-review-and-explanation-2021-movie/
CinemaSerf2022-06-04
★ 5/10
James McAvoy ("Murray") is the ex-husband of "Joan" (Claire Foy) who is terrified when he hears the news that their young son "Ethan" has gone missing from a campsite amidst the forests and streams of the beautiful Scottish Highlands. The police - led by "Insp. Roy" (Gary Lewis) are out in force but gradually "Murray" starts to think that his son has been deliberately kidnapped. Front and centre on his list of suspects is her new boyfriend "Frank" (Tom Cullen) - but why? "Murray" has a past working in sensitive areas around the world so could this be a ransom scenario; or something altogether more sinister? Foy hardly features here, nor - for that matter - does Cullen. This is essentially just a strong personal performance from McAvoy as the desperate, distraught, father - but that is about all we get here. The story is weak and lurches rather than develops, especially given that the plausibility of the ultimate scenario in this most remote of rural locations does raise some eyebrows. The USP of this is that McAvoy improvised his dialogue - but unless you were aware of this in advance, you wouldn't know and indeed what he does deliver is no better than the usual expletive-ridden verbiage that we might have expected from the pen of many a mediocre thriller writer on a tight budget, and honestly I struggled to get into this. The lighting? Well - some extra wattage need not have compromised the look of the film, but it might have made it more attractive and easier for us to follow. It is worth watching for a few scenes in which McAvoy reminds us why he made it on the big screen, but the rest of this is little better than a made-for-television crime drama that offers little I will remember.