Come to Daddy

Come to Daddy was a complete surprise for me. I knew nothing other than who the star was (Elijah Wood). No plot, no other stars and I didn’t even know who directed it. Well, I can tell you in this instance that that process COMPLETELY worked for this film. Not only was I shocked by some of it I was also totally enthralled with the unfolding story and the fantastic work to make this film as good as it was.

When Norval (Elijah Wood) receives a letter asking him to visit his estranged father in his remote house (an amazing looking house overlooking the sea), he makes the journey and attempts to reconnect with the man that he has no real memories of. Now, I can’t say any more about the plot without giving things away so….. The plot unfolds slowly but also delivers a good few sledgehammers along the way and manages to skirt utter chaos at times.

But it is all so well directed (Ant Timpson) and shot (Daniel Katz) but the power of this film comes from the incredible script by Toby Harvard (The Greasy Strangler) and Ant Timpson, which breathes so much life into proceedings but is fringed by the absurd at the same time. It just makes this film pure joy to watch.

For a first time feature film director, Ant Timpson has done a magnificent job, stepping up from producing Turbo Kid, The Greasy Strangler and The ABC’s of Death (1 & 2). He brings that particular New Zealand brand of dark humour to this film but he does it really well, not allowing it to take over or overpower whatever else is happening. As the film moved on I found myself enjoying it more and more.

Elijah Wood is wonderful as the hopeful Norval, risking his fragile-seeming soul in meeting his father again after so many years and a special mention for Stephen McHattie’s performance as Dad. And when Michael Smiley turns up things definitely kick up a notch or three!

I highly recommend this fantastic little film and I was lucky enough to get to watch a Q&A with Ant Timpson and Michael Smiley afterwards. A real treat to hear about their process and where this film came from. The perfect opening film to FrightFest 2019!