Like Father Like Son

January 31, 202510/1005 min
Starring
Dylan Flashner, Dermot Mulroney, Benjamin Mackey
Written by
Barry Jay
Directed by
Barry Jay
Run Time
1h 29min
Release Date
January 31st, 2025
Overall Score
Rating Summary

As you watch the news or listen to your favorite true crime podcast, do you ever stop and think—what makes a person want to kill? There have been plenty of studies and theories—maybe playing violent video games, watching too many violent movies, or perhaps some people are just born that way. That last one is something Berry Jay examines in his new film Like Father Like Son, but is it the real reason? Well, that’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.

As a young boy, Eli (Dylan Flashner) witnessed his father, Gabe (Dermot Mulroney), take the act of protecting his son from a bully too far. Gabe killed the older boy, an act that ultimately led to him receiving the death penalty—but this wasn’t his first time killing. Meanwhile, Eli is struggling in life, working a dead-end job and facing eviction, unable to pay his rent. One night, he meets Tzipora (Prima Apollinaare) and takes her back to his place, only to catch her trying to rob him the next morning. Surprisingly, Eli is forgiving and even comes to her aid when she’s attacked by another man, nearly killing her assailant in the process. It seems Eli has some violent tendencies, and this incident unlocks something in him—an ability, or perhaps an urge, to harm and even kill. Soon, he and Tzipora become a couple, and he vows to protect her, which for him means eliminating those who have wronged her. Recognizing he might have a problem, Eli visits his father in prison to seek guidance about his violent urges. Despite his attempts to live a normal life, he struggles to suppress the darkness within him.

Written and directed by Berry Jay, Like Father Like Son seems to have an important message about the cycles of abuse and inherited violence, but the film never fully delivers on that promise. Instead of deeply exploring what makes Eli the way he is, Jay relies too heavily on time jumps, making the narrative feel disjointed. The film appears to aim for a relentless, gripping tone, but the editing choices end up breaking any sense of flow, making it difficult to stay engaged.

Beyond its structural flaws, Like Father Like Son suffers from poor execution in nearly every aspect. While it starts with a provocative premise, Jay fails to develop it into something meaningful. The weak performances only exacerbate the problem—Flashner lacks charisma, delivering his lines in such a flat manner that it’s hard to believe he could hold a conversation, let alone carry an entire film. As the movie unfolds, it becomes clear that Jay believes he is presenting something profound about violence and the making of a killer, but whatever message he intended gets lost in the muddled storytelling.

Sometimes, a good idea is just that—an idea. The challenge lies in translating it into a compelling film, and here, that effort falls painfully short. Ultimately, whatever good intentions Jay had are lost in this misfire, leaving the audience mirroring Mulroney’s own frustrated, angry stare at the screen.

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