The Son (Sebastián Schindel)

[Grouchy]

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SlkXkgTXsiE/XMZuFln2PrI/AAAAAAABM60/fNPrPMqBCRMYZGsr1mlq0TidNYSYTB sAgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/EL_BAZAR_DEL_ESPECTACULO-29_04_2019_00_22_290001-782275.jpeg

[Grouchy]

Schindel's follow-up to his psychological thriller The Boss: Anatomy of a Crime does what any novel director's second feature should do - confirm its author's obsessions while being a more rounded up, complete work. Furriel once again stars as Lorenzo, a painter with a troubled alcoholic past who's about to have a son with his Norwegian wife Sigrid, who has had a miscarriage in the past. As the day for labor arrives, Sigrid's home birth plans reveal themselves each time more sinister and bizarre. The movie has two chronologies and so the (very good) screenplay forces us to fill in the gaps with what really happened. It's a really effective and downright disturbing thriller even as it has a fairly straight-forward narrative. But it really, really works. I was in the edge of my couch for quite a few scenes.

One thing that bugs me a little, though - how many movies are called The Son already? I agree it makes sense, but I would have looked for a less generic title. Maybe something with the Fibonacci numbers or Goya.