End of Sentence (2019)

Directed by: Elfar Adalsteins | 100 minutes | drama | Actors: John Hawkes, Logan Lerman, Sarah Bolger, Andrea Irvine, Ólafur Darri lafsson, Denis Conway, Lalor Roddy, David Grant Wright, Sean Mahon, Mary McEvoy, Aoibhin Murphy, Marion O’Dwyer, Joan Sheehy, Des Keogh, Áine Ní Mhuiri, Steve Blount, Daniel Mahoney

Director Elfar Adalsteins’ feature debut, ‘End of Sentence’, is the story of a father and son’s special road trip. Father Frank Fogle (played beautifully subdued by John Fawkes) picks up his son Sean (Logan Lerman from ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ and ‘Percy Jackson: Sea of ​​Monsters’) when he is released from prison. Sean’s mother has passed away and her last will was to have her ashes scattered in a certain Irish lake. An assignment that father and son must fulfill together. Sean actually wants nothing to do with his father, but Frank manages to persuade him to grant his mother’s last wish. So the duo sets off from Alabama, America, to Northern Ireland.

Along the way, the differences, but certainly also the similarities between the two surface. It turns out they have more in common than they thought. The two grow closer and closer and after some wanderings, separate confrontations and some revelations about the person whose ashes they are going to scatter, they finally arrive at their final destination.

‘End of Sentence’ nicely shows the difference in processing: the timid, almost too nice Frank versus the indifferent, hard shell Sean. A key scene takes place in a hotel room in Ireland. Sean rudely, aggressively forces his father to stand up for himself and discovers something he never knew about his father before. The two men have to deal with a loss and put up with each other. Gradually, that works out better and better and the bond becomes unmistakably closer.

Both protagonists excel with convincing acting, but the Irish environmental images also do their job. Sarah Bolger’s supporting role (Jewel, Sean’s love interest) also provides some memorable scenes. All in all, ‘End of Sentence’ is a film that gets under your skin more and more. The film has some hilarious moments, but also with enough emotion. A mother dies and two estranged men must find a mode to carry out a very important assignment. Adalstein’s debut tastes like a lot more, that’s for sure. Sensitive and smart, he knows how to bring the underlying characters to the surface. A growth brilliance that will touch the heart of many viewers.