My Son (2021)

This little Brit thriller is apparently a remake of the French film Mon Garçon which the director of this one, Christian Carion, was involved with as well, back in 2017. I haven't seen that but I'm hoping the original wasn't so full of plot-holes as this!

A boy goes missing from a camp-site in the Scottish Highlands. We join the action after all that's already happened and the police are on the scene. Mother calls in the boy's father (who she's no longer involved with) who leaps to action in order to try and save the day. There's a side issue going on with the wet lettuce new boyfriend of hers, which our hero doesn't take kindly to and at one point confronts him, rather out of control!

Anyway, he gets arrested for his dastardly deeds but wet lettuce doesn't press charges so our man is out and about again on the trail of his missing son. James McAvoy (Shameless, Victor Frankenstein) plays the father, presumably as told, making him a man willing to take the law into his own hands to do what's right. Especially when the police are told from the powers in London to back off the whole case. The first hole, that was never explained.

McAvoy does a decent enough job with the material (in a Liam Neeson type way) alongside mum played by Claire Foy (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, The Crown) who equally does what's asked of her - well, by the filmmakers, if not her ex-husband! Another gaping hole in the plot is what he does for a living (he says he works in oil) and the relationship between a kidnapping of one of his staff abroad and this story?! And why kids are being kidnapped? Never explained - not even in a 101 Dalmatians kind of way! But never mind - on with the thriller!

And it does turn out to be quite a good edge-of-the-seat thriller as we come towards the finale and what reveals there are, are revealed! The winner here is probably the Scottish countryside and earthy feeling of rural muck, rain and isolation. The scenery is lovely. Ignore the miniscule involvement of the local police and get stuck in with our dynamic duo as they fight the baddies!

I'll leave it there, I think, so that the ending is not spoiled for you, should you want to watch it. It won't take you long at only an hour and a half and you can catch it on Amazon Prime Video at time of reporting, along with other streaming services. It'll win few awards, but it's a tidy little thriller.