My Son Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

My Son Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2019

The review queue gods (and/or demons, as the case may be) are at it once again, “providing” me not with one, but four, films featuring child abductions over the course of just the last couple of days. Now, granted, three of those films are a linked trilogy (Malevolence, Malevolence 2: Bereavement and Malevolence 3: Killer), but even so, how much is a concerned parent supposed to be able to bear watching these? The Malevolence films are pretty much unabashed horror outings, often flirting with the slasher genre, but My Son is more of a character drama, albeit itself flirting with might be thought of as the Taken genre, with a panicked father marauding his way through a series of suspects to try to find (in this case) his little boy. Unfortunately for Julien Perrin (Guillaume Canet), he, unlike the character essayed by Liam Neeson in the Taken films, has no “particular set of skills” upon which to draw as he marauds, something that may actually give this film more of an emotional edge. Added into the mix in a meta kind of way, and as documented in some of the supplements included on this Blu-ray as bonus features, is the fact that director Christian Carion kept Canet completely in the dark about the film even as it was being shot — Canet was housed away from the rest of the cast and crew, and was never shown a shooting script, instead being thrust into a series of scenes where he, exactly like his character, wasn’t exactly sure what was going on or what was about to happen. That aspect probably adds even more tension to certain scenes, though one way or the other, anyone with young children may not want to watch what is often a pretty harrowing experience.

In a way, My Son may actually suffer from the technique Carion forced Canet to employ, since the film often has a slightly “loose” feeling that doesn’t necessarily support the need for a streamlined, action packed story of a desperate father on the hunt for his missing little boy. Despite the fact that Canet wasn’t let in on the screenplay, there is a ton of expository material here, something that may in and of itself tend to keep energy from consistently mounting. Among the subplots are Julien’s crumbling (crumbled?) marriage to Marie (Mélanie Laurent), a relationship that failed at least in part due to another subplot, Julien’s prioritization of work over parenting. In fact Julien’s entire backstory ends up playing into proceedings in ways that may strike some as positively halting the proceedings at various junctures.

Carion offers “detours” of another sort courtesy of quite a few interstitial “film clips” (or more appropriately “home movie clips”) of the missing boy, Mathys (Lino Papa). The film has a surplus of scenes of Julien tooling around in his car attempting to uncover the next clue, along with a couple of harrowing showdowns that are most definitely in the Taken vein. By that time, My Son has pretty much given into thriller tropes, including a completely ridiculous climax that sees Julien suddenly discover an unexpected particular set of skills.

My Son Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My Son is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer mostly in 2.39:1 (as some of the screenshots uploaded to this review show, some of the "home movie" footage is in different aspect ratios). Kind of surprisingly, given its relatively recent genesis, I haven't been able to track down any authoritative data on this shoot, other than that cinematographer Eric Dumont has used Arri Alexas on some other films, for what that's worth. In decent lighting conditions, and when hand held "jiggly cam" isn't prevalent, this is a nicely sharp and well detailed looking presentation, one that offers good fine detail in elements like Julien's knit cap or even some of the snowy outdoor locations. The palette seems to be intentionally tamped down a lot of the time, emphasizing wintry grays and kind of dirty greens. A lot of the film plays out in relatively dim or downright dark circumstances, however, and some of this presentation sees rather dramatic drops in fine detail and especially shadow detail in these moments. The hand held ambience of some of the film tends to promote at least a perception of softness, since imagery within the frame is never stable enough to really get a "lock" on things. The "home video" footage is often intentionally less clear.

My Son Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The back cover of this release touts (if that's the right word, considering my frequent complaints about lossy audio) Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks, but in truth the disc boasts a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers good placement of ambient environmental effects, and since so much of the film takes place outdoors, there's good, consistent engagement of the surround channels. Occasional sound effects, like a blowtorch that Julien uses in a late scene to dramatic result, also sound energetic. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track. Subtitles are forced on this release.

My Son Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of My Son (1080p; 48:31) is an above average featurette which provides some background about Carion's interesting decision to keep Canet "in the dark" about the film, even as it was being shot. In French with forced English subtitles.


• Behind the Scenes with Christian Carion and Guillaume Canet (1080p; 1:33) is another brief piece focusing on the same aspect, though it does offer Canet's own assessment of what making the film in this unusual fashion meant for him as an actor. In French with forced English subtitles.


• My Son Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:24)

My Son Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My Son seems to want to do something different with its child abduction scenario, and for a while issues of guilt and regret suffuse this story. Things tip over into pretty rote territory soon enough, though, which may in fact satisfy adrenaline junkies but disappoint those who want something different. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.