The Father (2020)

This movie is hard to watch but brilliantly done. There is nothing about getting old that goes smoothly. All the senses decline and the mind goes too. What Sound of Metal does to put the viewer in the shoes of a person losing their hearing this movie does for depicting the experience of dementia. We enter the world of Anthony and we are as disoriented as he is. We experience his confusion as if it were our own. The film also offers the perspective of the caretakers and loved ones who try to settle his volatile temper and organize his jumbled memories. We never know what’s true—or who, for that matter, as characters come and go and take on various names and identities, depending on his recognition of them. Which person is the daughter? The carer? His apartment? It takes a while to figure that out, all the while experiencing the sense of loss and confusion Anthony feels. Everything is fleeting and yet each specific moment feels urgent and real. Very well done.