The Father * * * ½

 I'm not really a big fan of films adapted from a stage play. Unsurprisingly they always look a bit stagey - and often the dialogue is too long winded for screen.

The Father is directed by the writer of the original play and the screenplay and the novel which he first wrote.  Busy boy! 

Who is really losing their mind here?

The Father beautifully shows some of the behavioral traits of someone with senile dementia but as far as I could see,  the film is more about messing with our heads. 

Nevertheless the director has made some interesting adaptations which I suppose are to help us understand how the protagonist is seeing things. The décor and the furniture in the same flat can change from scene to scene. Even more confounding are the characters. They too can change.   

Although it redeems itself with a moving and powerful performance in the closing minutes, before that it pushes things too far so that it feels more like a psychological thriller than a portrait of a deteriorating mind.  Which doesn't make it any less enjoyable. In fact it's a fun ride with it's twists and looping of time lines and a wonderful performance from Anthony Hopkins.