A mother's love is like no other, but few mothers would go to the lengths that Laura does for her child in Ivan Kavanaugh's psychological horror film, Son. Filled with grisly murders and nightmare-inducing images, Son manages to be frightening while packing a heavy emotional punch. The film rides a fine line between the macabre and realism. Son is a shocking tale, but it also serves as a dramatic piece of filmmaking that asks how far a mother's love should go.
Son stars Andi Matichak and Emile Hirsch and focuses on a woman named Laura who escapes a cult before giving birth to her son, David (Luke David Blumm). Seven years later, Laura and David have a happy suburban life, until the cult returns and awakens something in David that makes him crave the one kind of meat humans should never consume. If David does not receive his daily bloody nutrients, he will become deathly ill. Laura takes David on a road trip to find a cure for her son's condition, but she will also have to find him food along the way.
Son is reminiscent of slow-burn horror from the 70s, especially in its pacing and premise. Many modern horror films feel formulaic, desperate to stand out as a frightening movie but instead feel like an unpolished idea. Son nurtures its unsettling subject matter by treating it as a legitimate story. This film is twisty, intricate and has a lot to say -- something that isn't found in enough modern horror films. The pacing is great, slowly setting up the story but never feeling too slow. The care that is given to the subject matter and characters really helps the film be believable in a way it couldn't be if it was hyper-focused on jump scares or gore.
Matichak previously tried her hand at horror in 2018's Halloween as Laurie Strode's granddaughter, but it's with Son that she masters the genre. As Laura, Matichak brilliantly portrays a character who is on the cusp of heroine and villain. A majority of Laura's actions are deplorable, but due to Matichak's nuanced performance and the complexity of the script, the audience understands why Laura has to live the way she does. Matichak's chemistry with Luke David Blumm is so believable that certain audience members will likely shed a tear while watching them on-screen together. The mother and son duo find themselves in a dire situation that is made that much more effective because of how believable the two leads are together. The violent scenes are powerful because of the actors' authentic emotions.
Although the movie does put a lot of emphasis on the story, audiences will still be traumatized by witnessing a child chowing down on someone he knows and cultists eerily popping up in nightmarish dream sequences. Son impressively manages to work just as well as a dark drama as it does an occultist shocker. The story of the film is not terribly original, but the way the material is handled is. The execution really makes this film one to look out for, equipped with trippy lighting and extremely visceral imagery. The end of the film also boasts a monster that some audience members may find ingrained into their brains for years to come.
Son is the sort of supernatural horror that needs to be made in Hollywood more often -- a dramatic horror movie with a well-thought-out story and a purpose. The movie is extremely disturbing at times, but also edge-of-your-seat entertaining. The film moves in an incredible way, changing from a slow-burn tale involving cultists to a blood-drenched road movie. The combination of heart and terror gives Son the true potential to be a modern-day horror classic and the film showcases Kavanaugh as an exciting rising filmmaker.
Written and directed by Ivan Kavanaugh, Son stars Andi Matichak, Emile Hirsch, and Luke David Blumm. The film will stream exclusively on Shudder July 8.
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