Fathers

Kidnapping cases may not be something we hear a lot about on the news here in Sweden. Of course, this is a small country compared to many other countries around the world. And even if we don´t have that many cases here, if you take a look at other European countries the numbers are pretty scary. For example in France there are about 4000 kidnappings in one year. I know there are countries with far worse numbers than this, but still around 4000 people kidnapped in one year is still a lot. There may be a lot of reasons why some people are kidnapped of course, ransom for money, in some cases it may be connected to trafficking. There are a lot of different film adaptations that show different kinds of kidnapping cases. You have the 1990 classic psychological thriller Misery from legendary director Rob Reiner, where Kathy Bates delivered one of her most iconic cinema performances ever as psychotic kidnapper Annie Wilkies, keeping seriously injured author Paul Sheldon ( brilliant played by legendary actor James Cann ) locked inside her cabin. If you have not seen Misery for any reason ( based on the classic novel by Stephen King ), you simply have to see it. But let´s talk about a completely different film, that also bring up the subject of kidnapping. Let´s talk about the 2017 action thriller Kidnap, directed by Luis Prieto ( director of the 2012 British remake of Pusher, based on the 1996 Danish original film ). While the British version of Pusher was a big box office flop, Kidnap especially found it´s audience on physical media, digital rental and on streaming as well. Waitress and single mother Karla Dyson ( Hale Barry ) takes her siz-year-old son, Frankie ( Sage Correa ), to a carnival. While she recieves a call from her lawyer regarding a custody battle over Frankie, her son Frankie is suddenly missing. As she looks for him around the area, she see´s a woman dragging her son into a green Ford Mustang van. Why would someone take her son? Who is really behind this kidnapping? Kidnap is a well made action thriller that´s intensive and well acted where especially lead actress Hale Barry deliver the most effective dialogue. Worth a watch if you love well made thrillers. Speaking of kidnapping i recently got an oppurtunity to see director Harley Wallen´s latest film Fathers. I really enjoy most of the films of director Harley Wallen, so i was curious to see if his latest film would be his best film so far. Is the film Fathers a must see this summer, or should you watch Ash & Bone from director Harley Wallen instead?

A young girl Natalie ( Emilia Wallen ) is kidnapped by a mysterious man known as Bobby Nash ( Harley Wallen. Years go by and Natalie Dryden ( Kaiti Wallen ) is now an adult as she decides to escape from Bobby´s house. She is struggling with PTSD and is trying to remember what really happened. But as the truth is getting closer, things are maybe not as they seem to be...

I have always felt that director Harley Wallen is a very talented film maker, and a talented actor as well. I have had the honor to review every single film he have directed for many years now, and since we are both from Sweden this makes it special for me. Not just because Harley is originally from Sweden, but he proved that he may be one of the best director´s we have coming from Sweden in many years. And i sincerely mean this, i can not think of many Swedish director´s who have improved over the years, devoted to tell powerful stories in different categories. That´s not me trying to say we don´t have other talented director´s from Sweden, we do. It´s just that each film he have released over the years just keeps getting more professional, and i can tell that Harley have developed into a very passionate film maker. I would definetely say on a technical level, Fathers is his best looking film so far. Let´s move forward and discuss some very important details as well. Fathers is quite different from Harley Wallen´s previous films, in the sense that this is a kidnapping story that´s covered with some surprising twists and turns. I personally feel that Fathers needed a surprising twist, because it helps the film stand out from an ordinary kidnapping story. When it comes to acting in this film, there are especially four characters i feel deliver the strongest acting performances. Let us begin with actress Kaiti Wallen as the character Natalie. I have followed Kaiti´s acting career so far and i have to say, her acting is growing stronger for each film. She is able to balance different emotions, dealing with PTSD and capture everything through facial expressions, dialogue and body language. To be able to pull this off in a realistic way is not easy, and Kaiti knows exactly what she is doing. Actor Grover McCants ( who you might remember from TV series Tales Of Tails ) as the character Chief Norris is really delightful to witness. Grover feels like an old school Hollywood actor who capture your interest right away, through his powerful dialogue. Actor Deon hunt as Detective Parker is exactly what this film needed, a strong police character. Harley Wallen is as always charming on the big screen and that´s exactly the case here as his character Bobby. The psychological tiwists in Fathers manage to keep you intrigued, where we have to ask ourselves what is really going on with Natalie? As a mystery thriller Fathers have all the ingredients you could wish for, while the film still manage to deliver some surprises along the way. If you love specifically thrillers and appreciate strong characters, i am confident that Fathers will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rating: DDDD