THE FATHER
Powerful, frightening dementia drama for teenagers and adults.
Should You Watch It?
Anthony Hopkins gives a remarkable performance as a man progressing into the extreme stages of dementia. The film makes you believe in his confusion so completely that you may even question your own grasp of reality. The other performances are also hyper-real and upsetting.
That power comes at a cost. The story’s constant transitions between reality, false memories, and delusions take their toll. Its frightening subject matter, language, and disturbing moments make it a difficult choice for younger viewers.
If you are a teenager or adult prepared for a deeply unsettling drama, watch it with discernment; for younger children, choose something gentler.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAnthony lives in a London flat and is being cared for by his daughter, Anne. As his dementia progresses, he struggles to remember people, places, and events. He suspects others are lying to him or stealing from him, while his memories increasingly intrude on reality.
Anne tries to arrange care for her father as the people and circumstances around him become harder for him to understand.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is an exceptionally powerful film, even though it has a significant weakness. Anthony Hopkins does such convincing work that the audience believes he has dementia—and may even begin to wonder whether they have dementia themselves.
The dialogue is subtle and lingers in the imagination. The drama is purposefully convoluted, and the acting is consistently hyper-real and incredibly upsetting. The film could have used more orchestration to give the story better pacing and relieve the horror of the dementia, but its emotional and artistic impact is extraordinary.
The Worldview
The film presents a moral worldview centered on a daughter trying to care for her father while he suffers tremendous mental dementia. It recognizes the burden of loving someone whose illness causes him to replay scenes in his mind and confuse the people in his life.
There is no overt Christian content. The story offers only a vague suggestion of an afterlife. It does, however, take seriously the cost of caregiving, the pain of family relationships, and the dignity of a person whose mind is failing.
The film’s central picture is one of difficult family responsibility: a daughter continuing to care for her father amid anger, confusion, and emotional wounds. Scripture calls believers to carry one another’s burdens: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Moral worldview about a daughter trying to take care of her father while he’s suffering tremendous mental dementia which causes him to replay scenes in his mind and to confuse the different people in his life with no overt Christian content and only a vague suggestion of an afterlife
Foul Language
Six obscenities,
Violence
Daughter hallucinates on strangling her father in bed, suggestion that husband slaps the father while accusing him of taking advantage of the husband’s wife, who is the daughter, man is verbally threatening and abusive, man’s other daughter has died in an accident, and he remembers seeing her in the hospital completely bruised
Sex
Older man with dementia seems to make a pass at a young caregiver
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Wine at dinner and one glass of whiskey
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or illegal drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Mental confusion causes elderly father to think he’s being robbed and deceived, but it’s doubtful if either of those happened.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Anne keeps caring for her father as his illness changes their relationship. What does faithful care look like when love becomes exhausting?
Galatians 6:2 · 1 Corinthians 13:4–7Anthony’s dementia makes him question what is real and who can be trusted. How can we respond with patience when someone is confused or afraid?
Ephesians 4:2 · Colossians 3:12The film shows how suffering affects an entire family. How can a family seek help without abandoning a loved one?
Galatians 6:2 · Romans 12:10The story includes a vague suggestion of an afterlife but no overt Christian answer. What hope does Scripture give about what lies beyond this life?
John 11:25–26 · Revelation 21:4The Final Word
THE FATHER is frightening, powerful, and exceptionally well acted. Its dementia storyline and disturbing content require discernment, but teenagers and adults prepared for an upsetting drama may find it deeply affecting. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — TEENS AND ADULTS.
