HUGH Jackman has won the Tony, the Emmy and the Grammy Awards but he has yet to win an Oscar. He got nominated as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” (he won in the Golden Globe), but the Oscar remains elusive.

In 2020, he is very good as a closet gay school superintendent in “Bad Education” (for which he got an Emmy nomination) and last year he did “The Son” (for which he got a Golden Globe nomination). Looks like he’s setting aside prestige projects now that he is going back to his role as Wolverine in “Deadpool”.

“The Son” is written and directed by French filmmaker Florian Zeller, who gave Anthony Hopkins his second best actor prize for “The Father”, which is based on his own play. “The Son” is also based on his own trilogy of plays (there’s also “The Mother”) and is meant to be a prequel to “The Father”, as Hopkins also appears in it reprising his role as the dad, Anthony, before he got dementia.

When the film starts, Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman), is living peacefully in New York with his younger second wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby), and they just had a baby boy. Peter gets a surprise visit from his first wife, Kate (Laura Dern), who tells him she can no longer cope with being a single parent to their teenage son.

She is even scared of their 17-year old son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who turns out to be skipping school for a month and cannot seem to relate with anyone. Peter agrees to talk to Nicholas, who says he wants to live with him.

Beth is accommodating enough to accept Nicholas in their own home. Nicholas later tells Peter his mom was devastated when he left them for Beth. All this happens just as Peter gets a tempting new job offer in Washington DC.

Nicholas wounds himself, cutting his arms, obviously damaged and suffering from clinical depression. Peter asks what is ailing him and he just says he is constantly in pain. Peter recognizes the gravity of the situation when he attempts to commit suicide.

When Peter visits his own dad, we learn that he also had a bad relationship with Anthony, who’s practically missing in his life as he was growing up. Peter is able to recover from his own experience of childhood trauma, but Nicholas obviously has not.

Of course, we cannot tell you how the movie ends but it’s a cautionary tale for parents not to take it lightly when their kids suffer from depression. We had high expectations for “The Son” since its director made an impressive debut in “The Father”, which is profoundly touching.

It has a topnotch cast who probably thought they’d be a part of a top calibre drama, but alas, lightning doesn’t strike twice for Zeller. It was totally ignored in the last Oscars and this is very understandable as it is bogged down by many instances of misjudgments.

The film no doubt has good intentions. It asks questions about parenting, what we get from our own parents and what give to our children and their own mental health. What is lacking is the dynamics between the various characters, specially between father and son.

It also fails to better explore the intricacies of manic depression as it doesn’t delve deeper into the character of Nicholas, so we don’t fully invest in him. After a while, we even start losing our patience with the boy who doesn’t seem to appreciate all the other blessings he has in his life. We cannot empathize with him simply because we see poor streetchildren here in our own country who have so much less, and yet they continue to be tough and fight for their survival.

Hugh’s dilemma is similar to that of Steve Carell’s situation in “Beautiful Boy” as the dad of Timothy Chalamet. Steve’s predicament is actually more helpless as he has an incorrigible drug addict of a son.

But Zeller often strays into maudlin territory, like including flashbacks when Nicholas was a little boy and Peter was teaching him how to swim to compensate for his sin in abandoning his family.

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern deliver convincing performances that are more properly nuanced in its anguish than the movie itself, showing a better understanding of their roles not truly evident in the film’s general tone. Hugh even gets to show his dancing skills in a scene with his son and new wife that actually looks awkward.

Vanessa Kirby’s role is more decorative than vital. After her stunning performances as Princess Margaret in “The Crown”, “Mission Impossible” and “Pieces of a Woman”, this film is a letdown for her. Even more disappointing is Anthony Hopkins who also has very little to do except show his character’s toxic masculinity without an iota of sympathy for his son. And grandson.