Come to Daddy (2020)

Directed by Ant Timpson. Starring Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley, Madeleine Sami, Ona Grauer, Garfield Wilson, Ryan Beil. [R]

Wood plays Norval, an unfortunately-named musician who ventures out to the rustic seaside home of his estranged father (McHattie), whom he hasn’t seen since he was a young boy, but “daddy”’s behavior is erratic, even threatening, and not all is as it seems… Odd little picture, a brash combination of horror and black comedy, and it rates pretty low on the credibility meter (most of the surprises require significant leaps of faith), but it delivers enough gonzo goods to satisfy its narrow target audience. At its best in the early passages while the viewer is left wondering where it’s going; once it gets there, however, it may be easy to admit it was kinda fun, but why did all the creativity have to shift towards its gruesome inventions instead of the nasty plot turns and aberrant father-son dynamic? Debuted the previous year at the Tribeca Film Festival.

61/100