The Son

Set around a youth trade training center where Olivier works, the film also depicts Francis's barren apartment and their shared trips to a nearby sawmill. The sawmill scene serves as a brutal, hands-on backdrop for training and tension. The locations anchor the drama in a gray, working-class environment where secrets fester.

🪓 Power

An air of rigid authority surrounds Olivier, the stern master carpenter who trains Francis. The mentor-mentee dynamic is defined by control, boundaries, and a fragile trust. Olivier's cold demeanor hints at deeper, unresolved grief, which slowly emerges as secrets surface.

💔 Guilt

The revelation that the murdered boy is Olivier's son shifts the moral ground of the story. Olivier and Francis both confront guilt, shifting from a calculated distance to a tense, uneasy bond. The film explores whether forgiveness is possible when violence is tied to family history.

🔪 Violence

Violence punctuates the narrative, from the original killing to the chilling confrontation between mentor and apprentice. Confessions and near-acts of harm reveal how easily restraint can fracture under pressure. The movie asks what violence does to the people who commit or witness it.

🏚️ Isolation

Francis lives in a bare, impoverished apartment that mirrors his precarious status. The setting emphasizes social isolation and the difficulties of forging trust under surveillance and suspicion. The film uses emptiness and distance to underscore the characters' emotional disconnection.