Director: Rodrigo García
Productor: Alfonso Cuarón
Original Title: Raymond & Ray
Year: 2022
Duration: 106 min.
Country: USA
Script: Rodrigo García
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke, Sophie Okonedo, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Maribel Verdú, Todd Louiso, Tom Bower, Gina Jun, Maxim Swinton, Chris Silcox, Chris Grabher, Angie Campbell
Music: Jeff Beal
Photo: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Publicist: Apple TV+
Raymond & Ray advance clip
👉 The film opens with Raymond Harris (Ewan McGregor) arriving at the door of his stepbrother Ray (Ethan Hawke). They haven’t seen each other in years, but Raymond has some bad news, his father has died. His last request was that his estranged children attend his funeral. Garcia throws in some defining character beats in the film’s strongest opening scenes – actually, I would have preferred to see Hawke and McGregor talk about Dad in the remote cabin in the former rather than the machinations of the plot to come. Raymond has more than one ex-wife; Ray was a drug addict; dad was a jerk. Ray decides to go more for his brother than his father – Raymond can’t drive due to a suspended license – and the couple set out to meet the people who populated the last chapter of dad’s life, discovering that ‘everyone knew a very different man who was so manipulative with his children that he basically gave them the same name just to mess with them.
In Virginia, they meet dad’s latest partner, a captivating woman named Lucía (Maribel Verdú), who introduces them to another half-brother in her son Simón (maxime swinton). It appears that Ray’s father was happy in the end, perhaps even finding a sense of calm and peace, at least according to his Reverend (Salon Vondie Curtis) and a nurse (Sofia Okonedo) who befriended him. Although dad still fucks with the kids he abused, insisting they dig his grave. It’s a final act of control that pushes Raymond and Ray to the emotional edge they need to really find closure.
👉 Stepbrothers Raymond and Ray have lived in the shadow of a terrible father. Somehow they still have a sense of humor, and their funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves. There is anger, there is pain, there is madness, there can be love and it is definitely time to dig graves.