My Father Die Review
My Father Die opened this year’s Horror Channel Frightfest event and certainly started proceedings off with a bang. Young teen Asher idolises his older brother Chester. The pair are inseparable, Chester happily teaching his younger brother everything he knows about life. The pair are tragically wrenched away from each other however, after their father Ivan (Gary Stretch) brutally murders Chester in a drunken rage.
Years later Asher (Joe Anderson) has now grown up and is living out in the deep south with his overweight and grief-stricken mother. They then learn that, due to overcrowding and good behaviour, Ivan has been released from prison, presenting Asher with an opportunity. For all the years that Ivan’s been behind bars Asher has been in training. Training so that one day he can avenge his brother’s death by claiming the life of his father. Finally the wait is over.
Directed by Sean Brosnan, son of former Bond star Pierce Brosnan, My Father Die is a wonderfully dark revenge thriller. It starts as a hazy summers dream, but rapidly becomes a traumatic nightmare. Exploring the twisted bonds of family ties the film draws the viewer in and takes them on a blood-soaked journey. The tension throughout the film is incredible; it’s palpable in many places and Asher’s angst oozes onto the screen.
My Father Die Review
You desperately want Asher to get revenge, even more so when you realise that Chester wasn’t the only one to suffer that fateful day. Ever since the day of the attack Asher has been deaf. His condition makes for some fantastic scenes, especially as he creeps through places, stalking Ivan. In these moments we are seeing, and hearing through Asher, and gunshots and bone-crunching punches appear from nowhere.
Anderson does a phenomenal job with the role. This is a role that has no dialogue and he does a brilliant job at conveying everything in a look. It’s hard to draw an audience in when they can’t hear the main character speak, yet Anderson pulls it off. The use of his younger-self acting as narrator offers a nice bridge, and oddly gives the film a Stand By Me vibe.
My Father Die Review
Also worthy of commendation is Stretch. Ivan is a mean-spirited wild man. A Hell’s Angel type with no filter or respect for anyone or any thing. He’s a modern day caveman, but even more savagely brutal. Had Jeffrey Dean Morgan turned down the role of Negan on The Walking Dead then Stretch would have been the perfect choice. Despite the awful things we see him do he has a strange charisma to him, the audience almost liking him despite themselves.
Lovingly and beautifully shot My Father Die has some of the best cinematography we’ve seen in years. Our Southern setting is brought to life wonderfully, it in itself acting as an additional character. The film switches between the almost burnt out sun-scorched landscape of the present to rich black and whites of the past.
Powerful, compelling and strangely beautiful My Father Die is unrelenting in its brutality. Breathtaking images teamed with a killer soundtrack, this is an absolute must see.
My Father Die forms part of this year’s Frightfest programme.
