Thy Son: A Heavy Dose of Old-School Melodrama

If you're looking for something light and breezy for a Tuesday night, skip Thy Son. It is basically a marathon of weeping and intense close-ups that feel like they last for an entire calendar year. If you love classic, dusty dramas where people talk like they are reading poetry in a library, you'll probably get a kick out of it. If you have zero patience for films that refuse to get to the point, you will likely be checking your phone every five minutes.

The film is really just one long exercise in feeling bad for characters who keep making the worst possible decisions. Mercedes Prendes has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like you owe her money, even if you just walked into the room. It’s an interesting performance, I guess, but it’s awfully exhausting to watch for ninety minutes.

There is this one scene—I think it's near the middle—where the lighting shifts so drastically that the actor's face disappears into shadow for a good chunk of his monologue. It felt like a technical screw-up, but it actually worked better than the dialogue. It gave the moment a weird, haunted vibe that the rest of the movie lacks. Maybe it was an accident. Who knows?

I couldn't help but think about how different this is from something like Wednesday's Child. That one feels like it has a pulse, whereas Thy Son feels like it’s preserved in amber. It’s stiff. Sometimes it’s really stiff.

The musical score is also… a choice. It keeps swelling up with these dramatic strings whenever someone starts to cry, which happens constantly. It’s almost like the movie is afraid you won't realize a scene is sad unless the violins hit you over the head with it. Relax, we get it! Someone is upset!

I found myself staring at the background extras in a few scenes. There’s one guy in a hat who walks past the window at least three times in the same shot. It’s distracting once you see it. Now you’ll see it too. You're welcome. 🎩

The ending didn't really hit for me. It felt like they ran out of film and just decided to wrap it up with a big, sweeping musical cue. It’s not a bad movie, exactly. It’s just very, very old-fashioned in a way that doesn't always translate to modern ears. If you want to see how they did it back in the day, go for it. Otherwise, maybe stick to something else.