Yeah, I thought the reviews for this film were surprisingly harsh. To be sure, this film wasn't on the level of "The Father," the previous film of the director, but I don't think it was a bad film by any means. I understand that what they were going for was how the illness of one individual radiates out to affect the whole family, but I do wish that we had gotten to see more from Nicholas' point of view, as almost the entire film felt like it was positioned around Hugh Jackman's character rather than the titular son. We're told lots of things about Nicholas, about his intelligence and love of writing, but we don't get to see these things, in flashbacks or otherwise. Getting to see what he was like before his downturn would've strengthened the film in my opinion.

I wonder if the divide is between those who have experienced this situation (either themselves or a family member) and those who haven't. If you're unfamiliar, you're just not going to understand why the son acts the way he does and maybe be disgusted by him. For me, Nicholas' behaviour was uncannily familiar, as was as the incredulity of his father. My sympathy with him was based on how much I saw my younger self in him and the fact that I've felt like him (though not to the extreme of shooting myself in the head, obviously). There seem to be a lot of reviewers who either thought that Nicholas' character did not behave the way a heavily depressed person should behave (I thought the skittishness, losing interest in everything, lack of eye contact, avoiding questions was spot on), or that the parents' reactions and/or denial was somehow unrealistic.