& Sons gives the impression that it’s going to be a straight up family drama and sure, it’s that, so I’ll discuss why it’s more than a family drama by starting with a broken family in England. Andy (Noah Jupe) gets attention in school because of his father, Andrew (Bill Nighy), an award winning novelist. Andrew, who claims he’s close to death, summons his two other sons to come to England. Reluctantly agreeing, those two sons, Richard (Johnny Flynn) and Jaime (George Mackay), feel a barrage of emotions while returning. Andrew also tells them that Andy isn’t his ‘illegitimate’ son, Andy exists because a company made his clone.

Soft sci fi films are very fascinating and it’s a good approach to what seems like an emerging subgenre. Sure, a lot of the scenes here have Jaime and Richard questioning and even denying Andrew’s shocking revelation. And as I wrote other reviews, filler scenes can be deadly even in movies almost two hours long. But as with many films, those filler scenes work as it captures character’s behaviours while within ‘familiar’ spaces. Jaime and Richard walk into their old rooms and dive onto dusty mattresses, spaces that feel lived in. But of course, Jaime and Richard have to talk to Andrew, and Andrew’s getting more convincing in time.

& Sons‘ premise isn’t perfect – there are details missing and Richard and Jaime aren’t asking questions I’d be asking. Or maybe it’s just the one question – where’s this lady that Andrew allegedly cheated with to conceive Andrew? I know she doesn’t exist and I keep asking why Richard and Jaime aren’t figuring it out. I understand why co-writer Pablo Trapero went with this approach because denying cloning makes sense. This isn’t real life, it’s a movie, and the faster characters catch up to a premise, the faster we can move on. But the again what the film moves on to are kitchen sink arguments between Andrew and his sons.

Despite of & Sons‘ kitchen sink dialogue, the cast works wonders while bringing their characters’ emotions to the screen. The wild cards here are Mackay and Jupe, the former looking more like Nighy than the latter does. But there’s actually something funny, hopefully intentionally about Jupe uncannily getting Nighy’s distinct tics in all his roles. The world is a terrible place right now but I hope Jupe is the first of many impersonators. And of course, he’s not just doing like a bit here, as he brings humanity in a clone. The dynamic scenes he has with Andrew’s ex wife Isabel (Imelda Staunton) are the best in the film.

Watch & Sons in select Canadian theatres.