DIRECTOR
Pablo Trapero
The Quietude (La Quietud), The Clan (El Clan), Carancho, White Elephant (Elefante blanco) and Leonera.

STARS
Bill Nighy, Dominic West, George MacKay, Noah Jupe, Johnny Flynn and Imelda Staunton

&Sons is a heart-warming production that invites unexpected compassion towards personalities that have always been complex to understand. Bill Nighy plays a reclusive author who is retired and filled with regret, angst, and impatience, with a soft spot for his third son that he resides with. Once a ‘family-filled’ home with his now ex-wife and two other sons who live far away from him, the award-winning author now attempts to reconcile familial problems that unearth uncomfortable feelings that leaves the audience reaching for the nearest tissue.

Trapero’s first English film, &Sons, shot in the beautiful English countryside, is a film adaption of Gilbert’s novel of the same name. The author’s estrangement revolves around a bizarre and unexplainable secret that drives the plot forward and adds an element to the film, complimenting the warmth of its simple countryside setting. The author attempts to reconcile familial issues by sending out warnings of his impending death that urge his estranged family to come visit him. Initially bewildered and impatient, his children have their first opportunity in decades to express their frustrations with their father growing up and how it impaired their future and shaped their opportunities. The wife also returns for a moment filled with emotion and despair that reminds us how a single moment can affect an entire future with someone you love. Soon, humour and wonder replace resentment and bridges that were once burnt are slowly attempted to be rebuilt. With the third son at the centre of this reconciliation, the family is forced to confront the complicated history that has kept them apart. It is a deeply emotional turning point that reveals the author’s desire to protect his family while confronting his past.

The soundtrack is incredible and pays tribute to the director’s Argentine descent with soft flamenco moments that add a rich musical texture. The colours are striking and deep, filled with warmth and longing. The trinkets and decorations that design the English mansion are also beautifully curated and perfectly placed, earning appreciation in the set design. Though the mansion is not spotless and perfect, its messiness and slight negligence offer an inkling into the consciousness of the author and his experience in life. The house feels lived-in and imperfect which mirrors the fractured relationships and emotional baggage that occupy its rooms.

Ultimately, &Sons is a film that feels unconventionally warm in a cold English countryside setting. The director’s touches are beautifully eclectic, and the characters are all purposefully written and thoughtfully executed. A film focusing on family drama, &Sons is a reflection on regret and forgiveness, portraying the process of reconciling with those we once lost.

&Sons is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from August 27th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks Transmission Films and Nixco for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Janer for Moviedoc

Follow on Instagram – @cksjaner

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