Review: Come to Daddy

Director: Ant Timpson

Screenplay: Toby Harvard

Year: 2020

After his great success in the “Lords of the Rings” saga, Elijah Wood has become an important name in horror cinema, starring movies like “Maniac” and producing a few movies more. Through his production company SpecreVision, Wood has recently produced “Mandy”, “Daniel Isn’t Real”, and “Color Out of Space”, which have been critically well-received. Now he goes back to acting in a role in “Come To Daddy”, another horror movie that has garnered plenty of expectation. 

After being estranged for a long time, Norval receives a letter from his father asking him to go visit him. Norval goes to his father’s house, a beautiful cabin close to the sea, but he finds that his father has a repulsive attitude towards him. Tired of this attitude, Norval questions the reason why his father wanted him to come, which unfolds a series of events that borders madness. 

After seeing the positive critique, it was getting and the emotion it was generating within horror fans, I did everything in my power to know as little as possible about the movie before watching it and it proved to be the best choice. The plot of “Come To Daddy” has enough twists that work better if you know nothing about the movie. The script of Toby Harvard (ABC’s Of Death 2”) shows to be smart and uses surprise as its best resource and to a certain degree, it reminds of M. Night Shyamalan’s (“The Sixth Sense”) style.

Since the first minutes, the tension and intensity between Norval and his father can be felt and all the credit goes to Wood and Stephen McHattie (“Watchmen”) with their amazing acting. Every moment they share on-screen is as uncomfortable as it is phenomenal and makes it impossible to take your eyes away from their exchanges. Praise also to the work of director Ant Timpson, who has worked as a producer in movies such as “Turbo Kid” and “Housebound”, but that this is his first feature-length work as a director and to the great script by Harvard, that promotes these uncomfortable situations and compelling dialogues. 

Around halfway through the movie’s runtime, an event changes completely the path and tone of the movie. While the first half focuses on the emotional side of Norval and his father’s trampled relationship, the second part seeks the over-the-top and leans more towards the horror side, where the great practical effects are put on display. In this tone shift is where the movie suffers, more because of how drastic it happens then for what’s presented in the story.

“Come to Daddy” combines suspense and horror in a family drama about the estranged relationship of a father and son that just reunited. The number of twists, turns, and revelations throughout the movie are enough to keep anyone on the border of their seat trying to predict what will come up next just to be surprised with something completely unexpected. Elijah Wood continues to stamp his name in the horror cinema books through good productions and acting and continues to bring out some of the most interesting titles in this genre in recent times.