COME TO DADDY - MIFF 2019

After receiving a letter from his estranged father attempting to reconnect, a thirty-something year old man, Norval, heads out to an isolated seaside cabin, to what he expects will be open arms. However upon arrival, Norval is shocked when his father inundates him with belittling remarks, questioning his masculinity and constantly making fun of the guy he has grown into. All through this abuse Norval continually and unsuccessfully attempts to impress this man who abandoned him and his mother decades earlier, until tensions start to seriously arise that leads to one of the men snapping during a violent altercation.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Ant Timpson's brilliant and hilarious “Come To Daddy”; a film that defies genre definition. At times it is the blackest of black comedies whilst also dipping its toes into the pools of both thriller and horror, “Come To Daddy” always maintains its bizarre concoction of individuality as it deals with potent themes of toxic masculinity and father/son dynamics. There are so many twists and turns and surprising tonal shifts, that are all best kept secret for the maximum enjoyment of future audiences, but it is safe to say that you will find it very hard to guess where this film will just end up, after you begin the journey with Norval out to the cabin to meet his Dad. At times the film borders on the ridiculous, but does so knowingly and it is forever entertaining. Personally, I am a huge fan of films that can pull off large tonal shifts, the like seen in “Come To Daddy”, and to make it feel organic to the story and director Ant Timpson does a fantastic job of this. This is a massive achievement from a first time director, but you never feel like Timpson loses control of his film, and he does an excellent job of balancing when these shifts take place and continuing his story down the path of these new dimensions. Right from the opening of the film, you feel in safe hands and understand the tone of the film, when he juxtaposes two quotes about fatherhood before the film starts in earnest; the first a poignant thought from William Shakespeare, the second, a moronic one from Beyonce. It immediately lets the audience know, that yes, you are allowed to laugh during this film and boy do they laugh.

Elijah Wood is totally fantastic in the lead role of Norval. He portrays the guy as someone who is looking for love or at least be noticed by the man who abandoned him as a child. While he comes across as not a particularly strong willed guy, you can also sense that he has an underlying sense of anger to it all, and this may be the reason he become so heavily dependant on alcohol (a habit he has since cleaned up). This darker side to his character bares its head in the second, bloodier half of the film, and Wood is equally as fantastic as Norval explores the violence within him. Whatever you may think of Wood as an actor, you cannot deny that he has a fantastic eye for finding great and unusual projects to be a part of (either as an actor or a producer). He is such a good sport in “Come To Daddy” too because the costume, hair and make up departments have done him no favours here. Norval is saddled with the most ridiculous looking “Friar Tuck” hairstyle, coupled with an ungainly moustache that he may be using to divert peoples attention from his lack of masculinity. Added to all this is a dress sense that has to be seen to be believed, but Wood totally owns it. He commits to the look and blends it into his insecure and often meek character.

Wood is backed up beautifully in the acting stakes by an aggressive Stephen McHattie, who plays Norval's dad. The two have wonderful chemistry together as they constantly spar with one another in a rapid fire fashion, as they explore a relationship that appears doomed even before they attempt to reconnect. A highlight between the two is an escalating conversation about Elton John and the surprising friendships both men shared (independently from one another) with the singer. It is a scene that continues to build in intensity, and ends up being quite suspenseful, as the two men try to attain some form of superiority over the other, and it ends on a very amusing note. Later on in the film, both Martin Donovan and Michael Smiley arrive in roles that I will keep secret in regards to their importance of the plot, but I have to say that Smiley is completely off his rocker here. He plays his role of Jethro so flamboyantly and so over the top, that it borders on brilliance. He just goes for it here, and is unlike anything else I have seen him in prior. Donovan, as usual, plays it more straight but I really enjoyed his mischievous performance as he manipulates Norval into exploring his masculinity for his own gain.

Without giving away any spoilers, it should be noted that the film does descend into a quite bloody and violent thing, but again, due to the tone of the film, you may find yourself responding to the violence in a myriad of ways. While some of these moments come off as dangerous and brutal, other violent bits are so funny that you cannot help but laugh uncontrollably, and then chastise yourself later for doing so. While I have not mentioned the cinematography previous, it is in this second half too where Daniel Katz's cinematography comes to the forefront as his lighting design slightly alters, with shadows appearing deeper, darkness more pronounced, while the colour red also starts to achieve prominence in the film's overall look.

Overall, “Come To Daddy” is a hard film to talk about without betraying its many secrets and tonal shifts. Fear not, as I have barely scratched the surface in regards to the plot of this film or hinting as to where it all leads. Suffice to say though, the film is a definite crowd-pleaser (the MIFF crowd loved it!) and it is one of those films that is even greater when you see it in a packed cinema. At times it is extremely silly, but through all the twists and turns, blood and violence, director Ant Timpson does an amazing job of firstly, keeping the film all together, and secondly, telling a tale about a father and son finding each other again, and beginning their journey together towards healing.

3.5 Stars.