Depressed Nicholas, the estranged 17-year-old son of busy Manhattan lawyer Peter Miller, has been skipping school for weeks. And then, Peter's troubled ex-wife Kate shows up at his door. As the former couple discuss Nicholas' alarming behaviour, rocky parent/child relations disrupt the newfound domestic bliss of often-absent Peter and his second wife, Beth. But guilt-ridden Peter is convinced he can help. Instead, as
The Father (2020) tries to handle his teenage son's crippling anxiety, suddenly, old patterns emerge. They say like father, like son. Is Peter doomed to make the same mistakes?
—Nick Riganas