If you’re wondering if should you watch The Nest, a simmering family drama set in the eighties, I can answer that question for you. If you’re younger than forty do not watch it and if you’re older than forty, The Nest will be worth watching. It’s as simple as that. I cannot possibly imagine watching let alone recommending you a movie as slow and uneventful as this one just ten years ago. Alas, I turned forty last year and I find myself watching these family dramas more and more. It’s not like I have a craving for them, it’s just that I digest them more easily. All the other genres remain my favorites but I’m starting to like this new breed of modern dramas.
The Nest is a movie written and directed by Sean Durkin, whose latest movie, The Iron Claw is a veritable masterpiece. So, his fascination with dysfunctional families continues to all our joy. I must follow that up with the warning that almost nothing will happen in this movie for thirty minutes. And you know what will happen after those thirty minutes are up? Nothing. Only in the final third of the movie do we get some action and real drama. So, just be ready for that and you should be fine. The story takes place during the eighties as we follow the O’Hara family and their rise to power. You see, Rory O’Hara is an ambitious businessman who wants to have it all.
This is why he, his wife Allison, and their two kids moved to the UK. Rory just accepted an extremely lucrative job offer from his former boss and everything seems to be working out well for everybody. As it usually happens in life, everything is perfectly fine until it isn’t. This shift emphasizes the fragility of the family unit and the huge responsibility parents have. Not just towards their children but also themselves. Something Rory will have to find out the hard way while having an insightful conversation with a taxi driver one night. I want you to pay special attention to that scene because it’s extremely important and poignant.
It’s quite interesting that The Nest is not a standard-issue character study. I feel like it uses its characters to illustrate, prove, and explore certain concepts about family. One of the main ones is the utter obliviousness of the parents about everything that’s going on. Weighed down by all the shit that happened to them in the past, they start a family not realizing they’re about to do that same thing to the next generation. And when they finally realize what’s going on, it will be too late. They’ll probably be in their sixties and seventies. And telling them what mistakes they made in their “youth” will accomplish not a lot. Apart from making them sadder.
At least that’s my thinking, what’s done is done. If they were about to start a new family somehow, of course, it would be wise to point out their mistakes and areas where they could improve. It’s funny to think that I didn’t recommend this movie to people younger than 40 and they’re exactly the ones who would benefit most from it. You can watch this movie and not take away anything from it. Additionally, you can also ask a question is there something to take away from here? Mid-life crisis is going to hit you no matter what and each of us will react to it in different ways. And poor Rory is yet to reach it mentally despite physically being the right age.
He’s still in his twenties trying to impress and define himself as a successful teenager. A teenager who proved everyone wrong and who has everything his younger version did have. Well, I think that’s enough of that for now. Jude Law, who hasn’t aged a day since I first saw him some thirty years ago was great. And the same goes for relatively unknown Carrie Coon who gave an emotional and intense performance as his wife Allison. Durkin also revels in those immersive and moody scenes that will transport you to the eighties. And that ginormous mansion that I wouldn’t live in even if they paid me. If you’re looking for similar movies do check out Durkin’s debut drama Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Director: Sean Durkin
Writer: Sean Durkin
Cast: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Oona Roche, Charlie Shotwell, Tanya Allen, Michael Culkin, Adeel Akhtar
Fun Facts: The Nest was in development for more than five years. Durkin stopped working on movies for a couple of years after the birth of his daughter.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8338762/
