At some point or another, children come to realize that their parents are merely human beings, and there are things in their lives that these adults have hidden from them. In “Guest of Honour,” director Atom Egoyan tells the story of a father and daughter who discover that they don’t know as much about each other that they think they do.
Sitting across from a priest (a handsome Luke Wilson, giving the much-adored priest from “Fleabag” a run for his money), Veronica Davis (Laysla de Oliveira) is asked to remember her difficult relationship with her recently deceased father (David Thewlis). Gradually, the story of their complicated past unfolds, and Veronica realizes that memory isn’t always objective.
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Framed by this conversation, the film goes back in time to follow the lives of Jim and Veronica and tries to unpick puzzles that have haunted both father and daughter. Jim, a former restaurant owner turned health inspector, traipses around town writing up restaurants for poor hygiene. He cuts a lonely figure, made to look even more so when he returns home and has only a giant, 15-year-old rabbit for company. As the story continues to unfurl, it turns out that the rabbit belongs to Veronica, who’s in prison; rumors spread that she abused her position of authority as a teacher over one of her music students.
While the non-linear structure of “Guest of Honour” makes for a more thrilling watch than if it had played out chronologically, the story can be uneven and unsatisfying in places. Veronica’s reason for being in prison is never fully explained, leaving her request of being given the maximum sentence for her rumored crime feeling less affecting than it probably should. The motivations behind her character’s actions are rarely expanded upon, and it often feels like her character’s development is sacrificed for other plot points.
Though the dialogue is at times needlessly over the top, quiet, steady performances by the main cast help to ground some of the more outrageous twists and turns. Thewlis, especially, is an arresting presence; his character internalizes his frustrations over Veronica’s prison sentence, occasionally succumbing to sudden outbursts that manifest themselves in the form of an overly harsh inspection of whatever restaurant has had the misfortune of being paid a visit by him at that moment. In one standout scene, his power to shut down businesses scares a local restaurant so much that they end up inviting him to a private party they’re hosting in order to placate him.
All of this is held together by Mychael Danna’s ominous score and the diegetic music that is played in the film. In the opening scene, a delicate melody is picked out on wine glasses, while the dark score rumbles underneath, suggesting a traumatic connection to music, which is such an important part of Veronica’s life, as is revealed later in the film. Similarly, as Jim travels around to different restaurants from a wide variety of ethnicities, the score shifts slightly, including instruments from the culture of the establishment he’s walked into to scrutinize.
“Guest of Honour” is ultimately a film that is both about the subjective nature of memory and the ease with which people can slip into taking advantage of the authority they have over others less powerful than themselves. While wrestling to keep its unwieldy plot twists under control at times, the result is a complex, at times melancholic study of a father-daughter relationship gone awry over with the passing of time. [B-]