No, The Son is not based on a true story. However, the movie is based on a French stage play written by Florian Zeller.

It follows the story of a family as their son struggles with a mental illness. It is directed by Florian Zeller based on his screenplay.

When Peter Miller was living a new life with his second spouse, Beth, and their newborn child, his ex-partner, Kate, asked him to look after their 17-year-old kid Nicholas.

Nicholas was suffering from depression. Being a father, he barely knows about his elder son but agrees to take care of him.

While moving on from the childhood memories of his father, Anthony, he wished to be a good father.

However, his young child attempts suicide but survives it at first. While enjoying family time, he again shoots himself.

As a result, Peter feels it’s his fault as his kid could have lived a better life.

The film consits of cast members Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, and Anthony Hopkins.

Is The Son Based On A True Story?

No, The Son is not based on a True Story. Florian Zeller adapted his own screenplay that he wrote for a stage play.

The movie is based on the Zeller-written French stage play, per Distractify

The movie follows the son’s struggle with depression due to his parent’s divorce. Although he moved to his father’s house, he blames his dad for their separation.

It’s the prequel of the writer’s trilogy of plays, including The Mother and The Father.

The play aired in 2018 in Paris and included the lead cast of Yvan Attal, Elodie Navarre, Anne Consigny, and Rod Paradot.

Later, the show was translated by Christopher Hampton in English and released on the West End in London in 2019.

Afterward, the play has adapted for film by Florian and Christopher.

The writer told A Frame his desire to adapt his play into a movie. He said whenever they performed the show, he memorized the emotions he conveyed to the viewers.

Florian added people understand his story and can even connect to it as they share the same emotions portrayed in the play.

Even the audience shares their emotional reactions and the stories while relating to his plot.

As a result, he shares the desire to develop a film adapting The Son.

The movies God is a Bullet and Tender Mercies are based on a true story.

The Son Movie Ending Explained

The Son movie ending reveals that the character realizes life goes on, although one has to deal with any hurtful incident.

It was a tragic conclusion for the parents as Peter, a Manhattan lawyer, believed he was a failure as a father.

Nicholas ends his life after saying sorry for everything and asking for his parent’s forgiveness while expressing his love for them.

His parents were waiting for him as Kate asked Peter to come with them to watch movies which would make Nicholas happy.

While Kate was convincing Peter to come with them, they heard a gunshot and ran toward Nicholas.

It shares memories of when the lawyer was teaching his kid to swim.

Peter started thinking of his young boy’s future if he lived his life. In his imagination, he has a great bonding with his child and lives the good life with his wife, Beth, and a four-year kid, Theo.

Peter pictured Nicholas’s love life when he decides moving in with Lena.

He congratulated him on his new life and looked forward to meeting his son’s lover.

Nicholas got a gift for his half-sibling and his father. He wanted his dad to be the first to know about him.

Besides college, he loves writing, and he wrote his first novel ‘Death Can Wait,’ while dedicating to his dad, ‘For my father, for everything he did for me.’

All those years were tough year for his dad and mom. If not for them, he expressed he would have ended his life.

Peter wanted his son’s success and wanted to feel proud of him.

At last, it shows he was only imagining a future for his son. He regrets his life as he should have paid more attention to his child.

Beth said he did the best possible he could at the time. But Peter said his boy could’ve done beautiful things with his life as he was talented and sensitive. He blamed himself for his child’s demise.

His wife assured him he got Theo and Beth in his life. Even if it’s hard and hurts, life goes on. She asked to think of his four-year-old son as if everything would be okay.

The Son Movie Review

The Son received unfavorable feedback from the critics while average reception from the audience. However, they praised the role of Hugh Jackman.

Based on 178 reviews, the film acquired only 29% on Rotten Tomatoes while a 64% audience score.

Kevin Maher of Times (UK) gave negative reviews to the Zeller adaption. He expressed the messaging is so blunt with predictable narrative descent.

Maher believed it leaves little room for actual emotional engagement.

K. Austin Collins from Rolling Stone wrote, ‘Zeller’s conceptual skill does not match by his writing of scenes, and Nicholas’s character is particularly underwhelming.

It received a 6.3/10 IMDb rating.

The viewers felt the movie is every parent’s nightmare. They say it gives insight into what it is like to battle a mental illness.

They praised Hugh Jackman as he nails it as the father trying to do the right thing while realizing there’s something beyond people’s control.

Overall, they thought Hugh shared a good performance showing a father’s remorse and guilt.

Fans believed Teenager Zen acted well, considering his age and experience, as he projected pain, distress, confusion, and bitterness.

On the other hand, some assumed the young actor playing the depressed son was not convincing in this difficult role.

Fans felt the best scene was when Peter faced his father, as it could have made a terrific short film.

Some FAQs

Is The Son Netflix based on a true story?

No, the movie The Son on Netflix is not based on a true story. However, it is based on a French play.