The Father (2021)

Surely no-one in their right mind would argue against Anthony Hopkins' award wins for The Father. And he’s certainly on screen longer than the sixteen minutes that won him the best actor gong in 1992 for Silence Of The Lambs (1991). Hopkins is truly astonishing as a man who is suffering with severely debilitating dementia, and refusing all help offered to him by his daughter, a wonderful Olivia Colman. Her portrayal of a woman on the front line of a devastating disease is almost helplessly believable, and her life struggles to move forward as long as her Dad continues to lose his grip on reality. We know there’s no cure to this, Colman’s Anne will only be free of these struggles once Anthony passes, or at least agrees to move into a home where he can get the help he so vehemently insists he doesn’t need. Florian Zeller, who wrote the original stage production on which this is based, masterfully creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and tells us the story mainly from Anthony’s point of view, making the film all the more harrowing as we appreciate his bafflement and confusion at the ever growing changes to his surroundings, whether they be real or in his head. Hopkins’ performance is the film, and although Colman beautifully supports him, it’s his scene. Always watchable, even in his lesser films, this might even be the crowning moment of his career, as he turns out a crushing, catastrophic, and stunningly soulful piece of work that should, without a doubt, secure him a second Oscar. The Father is brutal, yet beautiful. 8.1/10