This is an intensely human depiction of a father and son who deeply love each other but struggle to understand each other as the son descends into the depths of drug addiction.
If my dad had been around while I was growing up then I’d have wanted him to be just like Dave Sheff (Steve Carell). His unswerving support and his patient calm are deeply admirable and steadying.
Despite all hell breaking loose he rarely judges his son – instead he desperately tries to understand the bleakness of his drug taking and somehow seek a way of saving him. But can anyone truly save anyone else?
Desperation grips Nic’s (Timothee Chalamet) face throughout as he is driven into darker places by his continual search for a bigger or better high. This starts innocently enough with a bit of weed and gathers pace at an alarming rate – unbeknown to his father – and seemingly to himself as well.
He’s a bright kid, with bright prospects – but that’s almost what causes his addiction. He wants to experience more than the humdrum day to day existence we all have to trudge through – and he finds his escape in drugs.
If desperation is etched into Nic’s face, then its chiselled into his father’s. While is son fights and fights to kick his habit – his father fights on for answers. But his answer is not what he hopes and his helplessness is deeply moving.
It’s a beautifully shot film with tender flashbacks which bring the pair’s relationship to life. You care intensely about both of these characters and wish you could somehow step in and make it better from them, for both of them. But obviously you can’t. And this is what this film is really all about – our love for others and our desperate longing to make those we love happy. But is that ever possible?
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