The Father - Characters & Cast

His primary motivation is to maintain his independence and his grasp on reality. He fights against the help offered by his daughter because accepting it means admitting his own decline. He is driven by a desperate need to believe he is still in control of his life, his flat, and his own mind, even as all evidence points to the contrary.

Anthony's arc is one of tragic decline and disintegration. He starts as a proud, defiant man, insistent on his independence and control over his own life. As the narrative progresses, his dementia strips him of his memories, his autonomy, and his very identity. His defiance turns to confusion, fear, and paranoia. The final scenes show his complete regression to a childlike state of utter vulnerability, where he cries for his mother, having lost everything that defined him. His journey is not of growth, but of loss.

Anne is motivated by a deep love for her father and a sense of duty to ensure he is safe and cared for. Despite the immense personal and emotional cost, she navigates his unpredictable behavior and deteriorating condition, constantly trying to find a solution that is best for him while wrestling with the pain of her decision to move on with her own life in Paris.

Anne's arc is an emotional journey of grief and difficult acceptance. She begins with a determined, albeit exhausted, effort to manage her father's care at home. Throughout the film, she is torn between her love and duty for her father and the need to live her own life. Her patience is tested to its limits. Her arc concludes with the heartbreaking but necessary decision to move Anthony into a professional care facility, representing her acceptance of the severity of his condition and the limits of her own ability to help.

Within Anthony's perception, the motivation of 'The Man' shifts. At times, he seems to be a concerned son-in-law trying to manage a difficult situation. At other times, he represents the hostile forces Anthony believes are trying to take over his flat and his life. His true motivation is obscured by Anthony's unreliable perspective, making him a symbol of the threatening and incomprehensible nature of his new reality.

This character, who appears as two different actors and is sometimes called Paul and sometimes James, does not have a traditional arc. Instead, he functions as a narrative device reflecting Anthony's confusion and paranoia. His presence shifts from being Anne's kind husband to a menacing figure who is impatient and even physically threatening, embodying Anthony's fears of being controlled and displaced by others.

The motivation of these women is to provide care for Anthony. Laura arrives for a job interview, eager to help. The woman who looks like an older Anne (Olivia Williams) tries to reason with him. Catherine, the nurse in the final act, is motivated by professional compassion, comforting Anthony in his moment of ultimate despair and bringing a sense of peaceful closure to the narrative.

This composite character, appearing as different people (a new carer named Laura, a woman claiming to be Anne, and finally a nurse named Catherine), serves to heighten the sense of disorientation. The arc is not personal but functional, representing the changing faces of care and the inability of Anthony to form stable new memories. The final iteration, Catherine the nurse, represents the calm, compassionate reality of his situation at the end, providing comfort when his family can no longer be there.