If you thought different movies weren’t being made anymore, Amazon wants you to change your mind. The film producer has created a film that has a curious incentive. Its main character, who is the famous actor James McAvoy, acts without a script and has no idea what is going to happen next, or what other actors are going to tell you. You have to improvise completely. we tell you what is the film about and why such a curious and risky premise.
All movies are the same. That’s what I think after almost every weekly movie session I have (sometimes double). However, what is clear is that Amazon has released a filmentitled My son (my son) and that you already have available on your platform streaming to contradict me.
Because in that film, its main character acts without a script in an exercise constant improvisation and reaction to what happens.
James McAvoy acts without knowing what to say
Readers of The Output will be familiar with James McAvoy because he played, among many other characters, Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men. The truth is that his telepathic abilities would have come in handy for the film, since he never had a script.
The grace of it all was that, while it was barely explained to him in general terms what the thing was about and what his character washad no lines of dialogue written.
Everything had to be improvised reacting as best he knew to what was happening in the scenes that were filmed and what they told him the other actors.
My son is the remake from a French film with the same title. Its original director was Christian Carion, who has also been in charge of this version of my son and for him remakeemploys the same improvisation techniques as the original.
And why do it like this?
The curious reason why it does not have a script
The film tells the story of a father (James McAvoy) whose son, only 7 years old, disappears. Soon it seems clear that it is a kidnapping and McAvoy’s character, always absent for work, tries to redeem himself from his guilt and negligence by finding his son.
The movie is a thriller and this is where it comes in the reason he acts improvising.
In 2020, the president of the production company STXfilms Motion Picture GroupAdam Fogelson, revealed why: «James will do the detective work of the film in real time, on camera, to create truthful tension». That is to say, that McAvoy finds out, at the same time as the public, of what is happening.
Also claiming that they liked to support the bold and innovative narration of proposals like this, they signed Claire Foy (famous for being queen Elizabeth as a young woman in the series the crown) to give you the reply. At least she did know what was going on and she had dialogue.
And the result? Well, I haven’t seen the movie, I’m not going to lie to you, but general reception seems rather lukewarm. With just a score of 6 by Amazon users and not very good reviews in general, it seems that things are not convincing.
Of course, it is undeniable that, at least, something different has been tried. Not with the story itself, but at least with its execution.
