Son (Blu-ray Review)
After a mysterious group of individuals breaks into Laura’s home and attempts to abduct her eight-year-old son, David, the two of them flee town in search of safety. But soon after the failed kidnapping, David becomes extremely ill, suffering from increasingly sporadic psychosis and convulsions. Following her maternal instincts to save him, Laura commits unspeakable acts to keep him alive, but soon she must decide how far she is willing to go to save her son. BONUS FEATURES: Interviews with the Cast and Crew of Son and deleted scenes. Son is released on Blu-ray and DVD May 18, 2021!
Film 
Laura (Andi Matichak) is a cult survivor and the single mother of a young boy, David (Luke David Blumm). She suffers from PTSD and the aftereffects of being in a cult and how she was pursued by its member. Now as she takes care of David, she’s starting to have visions of cult members in her home and hovering over David. David is also suffering from unexplained illness that brings forth a police investigation led by an officer named Paul (Emile Hirsch), who is sympathetic to Laura and her needs. As David ‘s illness begins to escalate, Laura also becomes more paranoid and irrational. Sinister forces are at play and will stop at nothing to bring them back to the old.
Son is a mighty fine production. It’s got a great cast and the production is top notch. The template looks and feels familiar. During David’s scenes of being sick and possibly possessed, reminded me of the scenes in The Exorcist, during Regan’s ordeal. David has a similar ordeal and you can’t help to feel bad for Laura. She’s had her own ordeal and now it is compounded by David’s.
On a technical level, and as I mentioned before, Son looks terrific. In terms of story, however, some things did bother me a bit. Laura is a cult survivor and it is illustrated in the opening act. We do get flashes of the cult that she escaped from but those are literally explored in brief flashes of light and a few frames. I wish we would have gotten some actual back story on the cult itself. The demonic foreshadowing was pretty cool, though.
Overall, Andi Matichak is always a treat to watch onscreen. Son is elevated by some nice performances and a great production. A couple of story elements could have been tweaked here and there, but those are minor nitpicks.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Clarity/Detail: Contrast and sharpness nicely balanced. I did not detect instances of post-production alterations.
Depth: If you’re into rainy days then Son is the film for you. The film is nicely muted and looks almost like a painting in parts.
Black Levels: Black levels are deep and inky.
Color Reproduction: The color palette is subdued quite a bit. Outside of a few instances of color, mainly blood and of neon and shiny lights at dingy motels, the film is not a colorful affair.
Flesh Tones: Everyone looks great, especially Andi Matichak.
Noise/Artifacts: Shot via digital workflow, noise, dirt, debris, etc., is nowhere to be found.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Dynamics: Son may be filled with dread, but the lossless audio track is filled with a variety of awesome sonic cues. For such a dark and brooding film, the scenes featuring violence and horror violence are presented in grand fashion. Son is a terrific listening experience.
Low Frequency Extension: The LFE-subwoofer channel is quite aggressive when it comes to handling the low-end bass rumbles. The bass is always deep and without intrusive rattle.
Surround Sound Presentation: There is a heavy presence in the rear surround channels. A few cues here and there that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Dialogue Reproduction: Clean.
Extras
The extras are slim on this Blu-ray, but for my money, I do believe some the deleted scenes should have been added back in to give it even more clarity. A standard interview featurette about how great it was to work with everyone on set is also included.
- Interviews with the Cast and Crew of SON
- Deleted Scenes
Summary
Son is a very unsettling film that tends to use some of the Exorcist’s tropes to set up the main storyline Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but the cast is so damn likable that I really didn’t have a problem with it. As usual, the technical specs are immaculate, with its terrific video and lossless audio. The extras could have been beefed up a bit but whatever. Overall, Son is quite the moody thriller and is recommended on Blu-ray!
Son is now available on Blu-ray & DVD!
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