Prolific horror producer Ant Timpson makes his directorial debut with the curious and demented family thriller "Come to Daddy." Elijah Wood stars as the neurotic but inherently decent Norval, who in searching for his father, he finds himself. Wood's distinctive baby blues are a central feature of Norval's journey into the heart of darkness with his father. Cops and coroners alike refer to his "kind eyes," the kind that make good guys trust him, and bad guys underestimate him. Wracked with anxiety and a tendency to overshare, saddled with an avant-garde bowl cut and a wardrobe of ridiculous Euro hipster duds, Norval isn't your typical thriller hero. This is especially because he does all the right and reasonable things in extreme situations, not the wrong ones. But that's what makes him, and "Come to Daddy," so interesting and unexpected.
Written by Toby Harvard, "Come to Daddy" is an uneasy two-hander that leaves one constantly wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. Summoned by a letter from his deadbeat dad, Norval makes his way to a remote seaside home, an octagonal house with sweeping ocean views, clinging to a cliff that can only be accessed on foot through thick woods and rocky paths. There he finds the gruff Gordon (Stephen McHattie), a rough and menacing figure who seems more intent on intimidating his long-lost son than bonding with him. Norval is bewildered. "Why'd you ask me to come?" he asks, a question he returns to again and again even as his beliefs about his own parentage are violently turned upside down.
A few twists and reveals in "Come to Daddy" are so shocking, it would be utterly cruel to reveal a thing, though it leaves a critic a bit hampered when it comes to writing about the film. This twisted and cynical horror thriller reveals a mean streak, a dark and deeply ironic worldview in the vein of Tarantino, but located in a surreal world akin to "Lost." The stunning natural setting helps blend the seemingly at odds perspectives seamlessly. And Wood, despite (or perhaps because of) his character's quirks, insecurities and fears, holds it all together as a wide-eyed naif finding himself in his father's picturesque yet depraved existence at the edge of the world.
Harvard's script becomes a bit too arch and silly as the film barrels through its climax, losing the sense of tight control it maintains through the first two-thirds, which are surprisingly poignant and deeply existential. Bedeviled with questions, just as Norval starts to slip into the void, he's knocked sideways. If there's one thing "Come to Daddy" aims to do, and at which it succeeds, it's to subvert all expectations one might have about the film time and time again. Wood's excellent and empathetic performance proves to be the anchor point, the port in this bloody, vulgar storm. Ultimately it's a coming-of-age tale, because at the end of his ordeal, the most important thing Norval realizes that the question of "Who's your daddy?" might not even matter anymore to him at all.
