Although this film adaptation can not quite breakaway from its award winning Stage Play origins, it's intentions are well-founded and thought provoking. All character performances are strong, but as a single scene ensemble piece, it can't quite avoid treading on some very stereotypical tropes. Depending on an individuals world-stage experiences, you could be forgiven for not totally understanding a lot of the subtext and it's emotional connections to real-world issues that simply do not plague some members of society.

It's dark ending is refreshing; as real-life doesn't always end in silver-linings and personally, I didn't see it coming. My final thoughts are that **American Son** could very much be used as a teaching aid for sociology classes. It's controversial subject matter is likely to provoke polarised views and topical debate amongst diametrically opposed cultures.