Movie Review: His Only Son

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

An incredibly moving film based off the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac. 

This movie takes what is a very difficult and controversial Biblical story and creates something truly beautiful and moving with it. The reason why it works so well is because it creates a real emotional connection with Abraham. There is no way to watch this movie and not put yourself in Abraham's shoes. Watching this film forces you to look inward and picture what you would do in Abraham's place. This is only enhanced by the way the story is told. This movie follows Abraham on his journey with Isaac to mountain of Moriah. Through this journey we see flashbacks in Abraham's mind that lead to the birth of Isaac. This is probably one of the best uses of flashbacks I have ever seen in a recent movie in quite awhile. The simple existence of these flashbacks helps us put ourselves in Abraham's shoes, because if we were him, we would spend a lot of time looking back on the same thing, trying to figure out how the same God, who sent us on this journey could ask what he is asking. Therefore the flashbacks not only give us more information but also strengthen our emotion connection to the story. Adding to this is how incredible Nicolas Mouawad is in the main roles as Abraham. This film also gives a very thought provoking look at this often difficult story and how it foreshadows what would happen in the New Testament. 

This film was made by first time feature film director, David Helling over a course of five years. It was made on a shoestring budget and it theatrical release was mostly crowdfunded. Yet this low budget and absence of a major studio rarely shows on screen, as this is a very handsome looking movie and the acting and the writing for the most part are as good as anything that comes from Hollywood. I am happy to see this movie doing so well in theaters and I hope that more independent filmmakers are able to get their movies to the big screen in a similar fashion.