Tweet
Released by: Lionsgate
Released on: March 24th, 2020.
Director: Ant Timpson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Garfield Wilson, Medeleine Sami, Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley
Year: 2019
Purchase From Amazon
Come To Daddy - Movie Review:
Ant Timpson is probably better known as a producer than a director, having worked on The Greasy Strangler, Turbokid, the two ABC's Of Death movies and quite a few more cult oddities over the years but he is the man responsible for helming the 2019 film, Come To Daddy, written by Toby Harvard (and based on Timpson's own idea).
When the movie begins, a young man named Norval Greenwood (Elijah Wood) emerges from the woods in rural Oregon and approaches a house that, as he puts it, 'looks like a U.F.O. from the sixties.' He knocks on the door and an older man (Stephen McHattie) answers. Norval addresses him as dad and they awkwardly embrace. It turns out that Norval's father has written him a letter and asked him to come visit. He hasn't seen him since he was five. Regardless, it's obvious that Norval obliged and here he is with a man he barely knows. They try to catch up, Norval clearly lying about his success in the music business and his father drinking more and more. There's some pretty thick tension in the air between them.
And then Norval's father tries to kill him.
We'll leave it at that, because the less you know going into this about how the second half of this movie plays out, the better off you'll be doing into it. This one goes in some decidedly unexpected directions and will more than likely take you by surprise. Yeah, fine, occasionally it's a bit preposterous but that's half the fun of the movie. It is worth noting, however, that this isn't quite the horror film that the cover art might lead you to believe it is. There are certainly moments where the film goes into horror movie territory, but it's more of a darkly comedic thriller, one with some very uncomfortable but no less effective humor in it.
Performances are pretty strong here. Elijah Wood is very good in the lead, looking every bit the goofy hipster his character is with his quirky haircut and his moustache and his limited edition gold iPhone. The part suits him well and he does a good job here. Her and McHattie have an interesting, and again, very uncomfortable chemistry together that puts us on edge very early on in the film. As the film progresses, we get solids supporting work from Medeleine Sami, Martin Donovan and a perfectly over the top Michael Smiley, but to go into any more detail about their work would spoil things.
The movie is nicely shot. Daniel Katz's cinematography does a great job of showing off the British Columbia locations that double for Oregon in the film. The house and the surrounding area are quite impressive and little things, like the emphasis on a stuffed owl perched in the corner of a room, help to create a somewhat ominous vibe. Karl Steven's score is also pretty solid.
Oh, and eagle-eyed viewers might notice some clips from Star Virgin used in the film!
Come To Daddy - Blu-ray Review:
Lionsgate presents Come To Daddy on Blu-ray in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 25GB disc with the feature taking up just under 23GBs of space. The 2.39.1 widescreen transfer is taken from a digital source, so there are obviously no issues with print damage or grain to discuss. Colors are reproduced perfectly and skin tones look good. Detail is quite strong, and there's good depth and texture here as well. No issues with any noticeable compression artifacts to note, all in all this looks very good indeed.
Audio chores are handled by a 24-bit DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the film's original English and it sounds great. There's some impressive channel separation during the more action-intensive scenes and good depth and range to the score. Dialogue stays clean and clear, no problems here at all. Optional subtitles are provided in English and Spanish.
There are no real extras here, but we do get previews for a few other Lionsgate properties as well as menus and chapter selection. The disc comes packaged with an insert for a digital download version of the movie as well as a slipcover.
Come To Daddy - The Final Word:
Come To Daddy is an enjoyably twisted thriller made all the better by some pretty strong performances. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release is barebones, but it looks and sounds really good. Recommended!
Click on the images below for full sized Come To Daddy Blu-ray screen caps!
