Who would have thought that a contender for worst film of 2025 would arrive this early? Well, congratulations are in order for Barry Jay’s Like Father, Like Son in this regard. While the film sells itself as a cautionary tale about how violence begets violence and it’s passed down generationally, it turns into an irresponsible representation of the blame game where people refuse to take accountability and responsibility for their actions.
The story begins on a shocking note as Gabe (Dermot Mulroney) kills a teenager, who was bullying another kid. For his crime, Gabe gets put on death row. Now, Gabe’s son, Eli (Dylan Flashner), wanders through life, struggling to pay his bills and dealing with the everyday ups and downs. Eli’s rage simmers, while his father warns him that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Let’s just say that Eli doesn’t try too hard to not be like his father, despite the film’s official synopsis claiming otherwise.
Like Father, Like Son is terrible
Boy, oh boy, where to start here? Eli’s “bad times” aren’t any more tragic than what the average person goes through. Oh, he has a low-paying job? He misses car payments? His boss sucks? Join the club, buddy! None of these reasons give anyone the right to develop anger issues and murder people. It’s actually the ultimate example of privilege that these are the extent of Eli’s first world problems, while there are countless people around the world who don’t know where their next meal comes from or where they’ll sleep tonight. There’s no excuse for Eli’s behavior – and blaming generational trauma for someone smashing up a phone because a service provider asked you to pay your overdue bill is inexcusable. At some point, the onus falls on Eli to recognize that his reactions are out of line.
However, the biggest issue with Like Father, Like Son lies in how it attempts to portray Eli as being failed by society and operating with some kind of moral code and desire for justice before losing his way in the end. In the film, he mostly kills bad people – like those who commit crimes or hurt the people he cares about. It’s a way to garner sympathy for the character since he’s effectively becoming a vigilante and dealing with his rage in this way, but it backfires spectacularly and turns him into the entitled angry white man trope. Maybe there’s a lesson that doesn’t come across in the clumsy execution, but it’s uncomfortable to see how Eli turns into a Paul Kersey archetype here.
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If the story doesn’t aggravate enough, the characters and actors will do the trick
It’s difficult to root for anyone in Like Father, Like Son since they’re all unlikable. Not a single character connects with the audience or causes anyone to have an iota of empathy for them. They’re simply there.
Part of the problem is Barry Jay’s script. There’s hardly any natural on-screen character development and most of the revelations happen via exposition dumps. Also, several characters glide in and out of the movie in a strange fashion, occupying screen time for arbitrary reasons. Vivica A. Fox’s Louise could have been cut entirely – or at the very least expand the character to do something more than a glorified cameo.
Truth be told, Fox probably dodged a bullet by not having more to do in this movie. If the performances aren’t phoned in (see: Ariel Winter, Dermot Mulroney), they’re out of sync with everyone else on screen (see: Dylan Flashner). No one came out of Like Father, Like Son looking good, and it’s just a bad movie across the board.
Is Like Father, Like Son worth watching?
Like Father, Like Son doesn’t even fall into the it’s-so-bad-you-need-to-watch-it category. There’s something deeply uncomfortable and unsettling about this movie, as if people will take away the wrong message from it and that doesn’t sit right at all. Don’t waste your time on this.
The Review
Like Father, Like Son
Like Father, Like Son would get zero stars if the rating system allowed it.
Review Breakdown
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Verdict
