Your Son (3/5) – Netflix Movie Review

Your Son is a new Spanish thriller on Netflix (org. title Tu hijo). It’s a story of anger and revenge, which should definitely leave you upset for several reasons. There’s more than meets the eye – but nothing you haven’t heard of before!

Your Son is on Netflix now and the Spanish thriller (org. title Tu hijo) is worth your time. It’s more of a revenge thriller than anything else. Sure, it’s also drama but that can be said about any movie.

However, don’t expect a “Liam Neeson”-style revenge story. We’re not quite there.

And yet, Your Son taps wonderfully into stereotypes to highlight how common they are. Still, this isn’t your average revenge story and the title “Your Son” actually refers to several sons!

Toxic fathers and sons

Basically, Your Son is about various fathers and their sons. Sure, one of the fathers (and his son) is at the center of this story, but more sons and fathers play various parts.

The one common denominator; Every father believes their son is good and pure. Everyone else has no real importance or relevance compared to their son.

Or actually, that’s not completely true. Women (including wives and daughters) have no real importance or value. Other men, however, are quickly seen as enemies to be dealt with swiftly.

Now, before everyone gets their boxers in a twist; Your Son is not about men being a**holes. There are many good and decent men. It’s about the toxic relationship between fathers and sons in a society where masculinity rules. More specifically, the honor of the family is directly linked to their sons. To the fathers, anyway, not so much by the sons necessarily!

Intensity from a stellar cast

The plot in Your Son is driven heavily by its characters. We’re dealing with characters that may be somewhat stereotypical, but not grossly so. Not until the pressure increases and they become walking macho stereotypes about to self-destruct.

Everyone can relate to having a loved one in pain or being hurt. But how you react (regardless of gender and connection to the person) is up to you. In this story, the fathers take it upon themselves to control things around their sons to a sickening degree.

The absolute star of the movie is Jose Coronado as Jaime Jiménez. He was in the Spanish movie The Body which was remade in South Korea as The Vanished. Jose Coronado portrays a doctor who suddenly has to deal with having had his son brutally beaten. While trying to figure out who did this to his son, many people seem to be keeping secrets.

Other important characters are Andrea, who is portrayed by Ester Expósito (from the Netflix series Élite). Also, the daughter of our main protagonist (and sister of the beaten son) is another key character. Her name is Sara and she’s portrayed wonderfully by Asia Ortega.

Watch Your Son on Netflix in the US now!

The script for Your Son was written by the director, Miguel Ángel Vivas, and Alberto Marini. The two previously made the movie Extinction (2015) starring Matthew Fox and Jeffrey Donovan, which is also worth a watch.

Alberto Marini has written some really amazing Spanish horror movie in the past. He wrote both Sleep Tight (org. title Mientras Duermes) and the anthology movie Para entrar a vivir (2006). Both directed by Jaume Balagueró, who co-wrote and co-directed [REC].

To complete this little Spanish horror club, Jaume Balagueró co-wrote the script for Inside (2016) which Miguel Ángel Vivas directed. This was the long-awaited English-language remake of the French À l’intérieur (2007). 

In other words, Your Son has some of the best Spanish horror filmmakers on board. And while this is not a horror movie, it’s a dark revenge thriller that should satisfy many horror fans as well.

Your Son is out on Netflix in the US from March 1, 2019.

Details

Director: Miguel Ángel Vivas
Writers: Alberto Marini, Miguel Ángel Vivas
Stars: Jose Coronado, Ana Wagener, Asia Ortega, Pol Monen, Ester Expósito, Marco H. Medina

Plot

After his son is brutally beaten outside a nightclub, a surgeon takes the law into his own hands and seeks vengeance against the perpetrators.