My Father, Die (2016)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Good concept, poorly executed.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

When I think of revenge in cinema I think of "Oldboy" (2003), "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), "Blue Ruin" (2014), "Lady Vengeance" (2004), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Django Unchained" (2012), "Kill Bill" (2003;2004) "Gangs of New York" (2002), and even "John Wick" (2014). Now after seeing this masterpiece of revenge, "My Father Die" is now on that list."My Father Die" is as you already know, a deep southern Gothic revenge film, and is the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan. The film starts off with two brothers (Asher and Chester) walking around talking about sex and meeting up with a girl (Nana) so that Chester can have sex with her. As Asher keeps on watch for the two his father (Ivan) pounces when he's not looking and hits him so hard upside the head that he ruptures his eardrums. Ivan then confronts Chester and beats him to death in a fit of rage while the recently deaf Asher watches. Jump twenty years later where Asher is taking care of his overly obese mother who does nothing but sit on her bed and watch the local church sermon. Ivan is recently released from prison and Asher plans to exact his revenge upon his fallen brother. And so ensues one of the best revenge films I've seen.The film is so well acted by the entire cast, mostly the three main stars Joe Anderson (Asher), Candace Smith (Nana), and Gary Stretch (Ivan). These three actors did a magnificent job bringing their characters to life. Joe Anderson was magnificent as he never said a word in the film and yet you could empathize with his character so much. Gary Stretch was unbelievable, if you thought he was bad in "Dead Man's Shoes", you have no idea how much more bad he is in this film. Stretch is just absolutely brutal and brings so much tension and suspense in every scene he is in.Brosnan's direction is fantastic, he never loses control of the brutal and religious aspects the movie brings. He developed the characters so well and took time to really make them feel real. The cinematography is overall very good, when it comes down to the cinematography of a very low budget film I'm not so harsh on it considering that money is not very abundant, but the film looks beautiful either way. Throughout the film I couldn't help but see Brosnan's satire on Southern religion. I am not completely sure if it was intentional, but if it was good job. Periodically in the film a painting of Saturn eating his children is seen, which not only symbolizes the characters in the film but also gives the film a religious quality to it which I thought was interesting.I honestly don't know what else to say, this is a great revenge film with unique characters that we empathize and despise, a great story, acting, and direction. Sean Brosnan debuted with a powerhouse of a film and I will without a doubt be looking forward to what he has in store next.

This was part of Frightfest 2016 and it was really good. Now it has quite a few flaws overall, but just the rawness and the way it deals with things plus the way it is framed and filmed, all make up for it. Some may feel it is too "arty", especially the black and white shots of it (flashbacks) will be the target of that criticism.But it all makes sense (well apart from starting something and crazily enough not having finished it ... then again that creates a sort of magic aura that transcends this into a different dimension) in the end. And it is based on Freud partly of course. In the sense that sons want to replace their dad. In this case, the dad is not a nice one at all.A lot of violence and a lot of crazy things happening, but all with a purpose

They allegations of bucket loads of blood and gore are overstated. As a revenge action flick it has enough action to keep most people happy. The reflections on the past add pathos. Some of the characterizations are a little thinly drawn, but fortunately for us not the main roles; which are all filled with conviction. The violence though extreme occurs in context and without unduly being dwelt on. Other reviewers really should try to be dispassionate and honest about there own sensitivities if they seek to achieve their presumed goal of guiding over people in their movie choices.I would have given this a 6 but raised it to a 7 because the main roles are played well. The script isn't too shabby and the pace and length of the film was well considered in the edit.This is good B movie action by any honest brokers standards.

This movie hits me on a very personal level.It resembles much of my relationship with my father. I never knew why my father started or why he couldn't stop drinking. I am certain that not many IMDb users can relate to violent childhood memories but this film goes beyond that.The poetic voice-over, the spectacular scenery, resembles Terrence Malick's doing and the violence on a Black & White screen, punctuated at key points in the story, resembles Quentin Tarantino's work.I don't have much to say about this gem, but that it captures how it feels to be born in a family with a violent past and how good men chose to make different decisions in life.It's spot on. Uncomfortably so.Yet beautiful.Thank you, Sean Brosnan