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Come to Daddy
Canada / New Zealand / Ireland 2019
produced by Daniel Bekerman, Toby Harvard, Katie Holly, Mette-Marie Kongsved, Emma Slade, Laura Tunstall, Lia Buman (executive), Tim Headington (executive), Ant Timpson (executive) for Firefly Films, Blinder Films, Nowhere, Scythia Films
directed by Ant Timpson
starring Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Garfield Wilson, Madeleine Sami, Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley, Simon Chin, Ona Grauer, Ryan Beil, Raresh DiMofte, Alla Rouba, Noam Zylberman, Gord Middleton, Oliver Wilson
idea by Ant Timpson, screenplay by Toby Harvard, music by Karl Steven
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Norval (Elijah Wood) hasn't seen his father in decades, so he's all the
more surprised to receive a letter from him inviting him over to his house
in the middle of nowhere. But when he arrives, his dad (Stephen McHattie)
doesn't seem at all interested in a reunion, nor does he remember ever
sending Norval a letter. And the longer they talk, the more frustrated
does Norval get because his father seems to be nothing but a crude drunk
who seems to enjoy playing alpha male with him and humiliating him very
much, but has little in terms of fatherly features. They eventually get
into a fight - when dad has a heart attack and just dies. The authorities
soon come by and confirm he died of natural causes - but leave the corpse
with Norval because the local morgue is beyond capacity at the moment.
This proves to be a very uncomfortable night for Norval, not only because
he's in a strange house with a corpse, but also because things go bump at
night - quite literally. And when Norval checks, he finds a hidden room in
the house ... where he finds a tied up man who turns out to be his actual
father - which in a way is a good thing, as Norval did not like his dead
"father" one bit, but it's also bad, because his real father
isn't a really good man either but a kidnapper who wanted to cheat his
accomplices - and now they've caught up with him, and Norval, as his son,
is caught in the crossfire, and in order to survive he has to team up with
his crooked new dad ... Maybe the synopsis doesn't sound like
it, but first and foremost, Come to Daddy is fun. Sure, the
over-the-top, at times crude humour might not be for everyone, but a
clever script and likeable performances make it work, and the directorial
effort is subtle enough to give room to the quieter scenes as well and
afford Norval a relatable character arc. But above all, this is a really
wild ride, and should make an excellent party movie!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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