The funniest and wildest movie I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival this year was the suggestively-titled Come to Daddy, a film whose dark comedy made for a perfect inclusion in the midnight section of films.
What starts out as a slowly built, dry comedy of the uncomfortable reunion between a son and his estranged father ends up being a wonderfully insane and absurd film that is sure to make audiences laugh.
Come to Daddy opens with Norval (Elijah Wood) arriving at the secluded beachside cabin of his father (Stephen McHattie) after receiving a letter requesting a reunion, despite not hearing from his dad since he left him and his mother as a child. But Norval is confused – when he arrives at the residence, his father, grizzled and gruff, doesn’t seem ready to reunite. In an odd way, Norval feels like his dad is actively inflicting violence, until an unexpected moment immobilizes him, leaving Norval alone without the reunion he deserved. At least, that’s what he thinks, until things get incredibly twisted.
At this point, explaining further would ruin all of the fun of the film, so I won’t divulge much more. Just know that Come To Daddy is wild and raunchy and has a good amount of comedic violence that makes this an unconventionally fun time. Think Swiss Army Man meets the little-seen Netflix gem I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore which also stars Elijah Wood. You can expect that Wood is always going to involve himself in these types of movies, which we fully stand behind. If you’re ready to laugh by way of shockingly-gratuitous yet still comically-minded violence, you will find yourself entertained by this playfully twisted yet uniquely-envisioned film that is more than a major accomplishment from first-time feature filmmaker Ant Timpson.
COME TO DADDY (2019)
Starring Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie
Directed by Ant Timpson
Written by Toby Harvard
93 minutes. Rated R. In Select Theaters Nationwide + Available on Digital & VOD on February 7, 2020.
This review was originally published on April 30, 2019.
