Raymond & Ray – Review
105 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by Rodrigo García
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Half-brothers Raymond and Ray have lived their lives in the shadow of a terrible father. Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves. There’s anger, there’s pain, there’s folly, there might be love, and there’s definitely grave-digging.
By that synopsis, you’d think this was some kind of wacky comedy.
But it’s not.
This is the story of two damaged men who are faced with the prospect of a world without the father who damaged them. To lose a parent is a difficult thing. If the relationship was a positive one, you sense the absence of that love and feel the lesser for it.
But this is not that.
What then, of a relationship not grounded in love, but pain and violence? Having long abandoned contact with their father (whom they refer to simply by his last name: Harris), the siblings make the road trip to attend his funeral, only to be hit from all sides by things they hadn’t expected.
A bill for the funeral home (unpaid by Harris).
Harris’ nurse/ex-girlfriend, who was there at the end.
The need for them to physically dig the grave because that’s what Harris wanted, not out of some sense of purpose.
And some extra surprises for Harris’s sons… all of them.
In an attempt to finally put Harris and his influence behind them, Raymond and Ray find themselves more immersed in his world–and subject to his influence–perhaps more than ever.
The joy(?) of watching Raymond & Ray is watching each character reveal themselves, so I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Know that McGregor and Hawke both turn in good-to-great performances, and as a son who buried his father just a few years ago, I can attest to feeling a lot of things as I watched this one.
A lot of things.
It’s a shame this one will be limited to folks with AppleTV+, but if you’ve been considering spending the $4.99 a month for that streaming service, you should know by now how highly Ryan and I think of how they have curated their offerings.
Raymond & Ray will hit Apple TV+ exclusively on October 21 and stars Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke, Maribel Verdú, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bower, and Vondie Curtis Hall.
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