For the last two years in a row, I had taken much joy in correctly predicting the Oscar winners for best actor. Both Rami Malek ("Bohemian Rhapsody") and Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker") transcended the barriers of storytelling on their own to give memorable performances in their respective films. 2020 was not the same for movies, or otherwise. As cinema theatres remained shut around the world contributing to the sense of grief and the loss of normalcy that were universally experienced, many anticipated an underwhelming year for new films.

Yet, despite the unprecedented circumstances or perhaps because of them, poignant stories were told, boundaries of creativity were pushed, and most importantly, smaller movies (those with less Hollywood fanfare) received the limelight. Sir Anthony Hopkins delivered a gripping performance in one such movie, called " The Father" and deservedly, was awarded the Oscar.

"The Father" tells the story of an old man (also named Anthony), as his mind unravels due to age and dementia. Olivia Colman as his daughter Anne, deftly depicts the intricacies involved in the face of difficult decisions.

A few weeks back, I read a 2019 article in The New Yorker, titled "Why We Can't Tell the Truth About Aging". I understood that when much of classic literature was penned, the average life expectancy of man couldn't have been more than fifty. For the first time in history, we have an aging population. The stories of the elderly not only deserve to be told, but there is a wide audience for them which comprises the old and the young, who wish to know more about what old age can look like, and that picture is not always pretty.

In this regard, "The Father" fits perfectly into the current cultural landscape, which is hyper fixated on how to stay young and look young for as long as possible. Growing old however, is inevitable: skin will wrinkle, hair will grey and fall out, energy will be low, and some will lose their minds.

Director Florian Zeller intentionally scripted the movie entirely from the perspective of Anthony. As a result, the audience at any given moment in the film only knows what he knows, and sees what he sees. Anthony is highly speculative, fearful, and arrogant. At times, the movie can seem like a mystery-thriller in which one is compelled to question whether a mean trick is being played on this old and vulnerable man.

In a 2021 interview with BBC, Zeller says, "I wanted The Father to be a bit more than a story, but like an experience, as if you [the viewer] were the one losing your bearings."

The movie is shot almost entirely inside an apartment, which we initially know as Anthony's own. Throughout the film, bits and pieces of the apartment change, furniture is switched around, and a painting disappears. The set is used as a device to convey a change in timeline. Ultimately, I wondered if the events of the movie were simply a recurrence of what Anthony goes through on a given day.

Hopkins astoundingly depicts the reality of how dehumanising old age can be — the image of a man in his 80s whimpering for his mother as though he was a young kid will certainly stay with the audience. Hopkins portrays strength and fierceness when he is stubborn and helplessness when he is weak. The dichotomy of his performance is not only haunting, but also leaves the viewers with much to ponder about their own relationship with aging, and elderly parents and grandparents.

"The Father" brings to light the unfathomable difficulty of being in the position of someone responsible for an elderly person — there are not one but two characters in helpless positions. Anne struggles with the weight of her decision to live out her life on her own terms and what it means for her father's life.

The movie illustrates a simple but harsh reality of old age: one's  way out of a life of complete dependence and into a better place is death.