Son (2025) by William Chaffin

Director: William Chaffin

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Serial Killer

Plot:

After a brutal murder, police detectives begin investigating a series of clues left behind about the nature of the crimes and who would’ve been responsible, but the more they interrogate suspects, the more they get wind of the crimes continuing and must stop the killer’s rampage.

Review:

This was a generally disappointing and dull serial killer effort. The main drawback here is the absolutely dreary and sluggish pace that has little going on beyond the investigation of the crime. The first half features the detectives getting wind of the initial murder and beginning their investigation, reenacting the crime scene and going through what could’ve happened to allow them to start going for potential means of interrogation against the potential suspects in the case, leaving this with an endless series of conversation pieces rather than anything else. With the different discussions actually doing nothing but bringing up dead ends, perfect alibis, and nothing beyond a new list of suspects to converse with, it highlights this kind of inactivity even more that leaves the pacing to feel drained and lethargic, as the only interruptions to these conversations are the next murder.

That does have some distinct connotations against the investigation, which is well-handled but still comes off rather lame. The way this sets up the actual mystery about the killer, their identity, and the different clues utilized to fill everything in is incredibly well-handled, presenting a case that is immensely well-thought-out, presenting a solid series of talking points that make for a far more immersive angle than expected as there’s enough going on here that hides the identity of the killer rather well. The motivation is a different story, as that comes together weakly with a ridiculous notion of what’s going on and why they’re going through the whole rampage that somewhat undoes this mystery, much like how it pointedly ignores one of the characters at the end just to provide a twist ending with no explanation for their fate. Coupled with simple-minded stabbings that have no real gore involved, so it’s not that sensational, these all make this one a disappointing entry overall.

Overview: ***/5

An intriguing if somewhat flawed genre effort, there’s a lot to like here that unfortunately gets wiped out by a series of issues that hold this back into the middle rungs of the genre overall. Give it a shot if this kind of indie effort is appealing or if you’re curious about it, while most others out there turned off by these issues should heed caution.