To watch a film, to get a chance of meeting new people in real life we otherwise would not, cry with them, and laugh as if they were one of our own is an incredible feeling for anyone who loves films. When I heard of “Come to Daddy”, I was too excited, to say the least. In fact, the first thirty minutes of it were awesome, intelligent, and promising. But what happened afterward is something I’m still trying to understand as the time I spent on it will never come back, no matter what.

Ant Thompson’s “Come to Daddy” follows the thirty-five-year-old, Norval (Elijah Wood), who visits his father (Stephen McHattie) after receiving a letter from him. Arriving at an unspecified location, literally in the middle of nowhere, a UFO-shaped home and breathtaking view of the ocean does not help the two to celebrate their reunion smoothly as immediately after Norval enters his father’s fancy home, things turn from bad to worse.

Unfortunately, the promising start of Thompson’s debut directorial piece did not continue the same way. For instance, there was already suspicious behavior noticeable in Norval’s father. And when the same behavior was explained in the second half of the film, nothing new had been offered. In fact, the entire plot was missing its point. By the time when you reach the end of the film, you will ask yourself only one question – “What is it that I just watched?”

As I am trying to even avoid providing a hint to what may happen in “Come to Daddy” after the major encounter of Norval and his father, everything else was replaced by unnecessary violence that literally would have been avoided in the hands of a better screenwriter. As for the directorial approach, criticizing the director means I know his craft more than he does, which is not true. However, there’s a big disconnect between the film and its concept, logic and common sense, which is the main factor this film, sadly, was lacking throughout.