Review | Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV film review – father and son bond over video game in Japanese family drama
- The cult Japanese game plays centre stage in this thinly disguised tribute to the Final Fantasy franchise
- The film cuts between live action and CGI and despite the cheesy melodrama, it is fun to watch
3.5/5 stars
Adapted from a Japanese television series, which itself was based on a viral blog post, Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV is half touching family dramedy, half reverential tribute to the long-running Final Fantasy video game series, produced by … the makers of that same video game franchise.
Yes, this makes the film a bit of a glorified commercial, but director Teruo Noguchi and the two lead actors, Kentaro Sakaguchi and Kotaro Yoshida, do such good jobs that the film’s emotional beats feel earned.
The story revolves around an ageing father and his young adult son, who share an icy, awkward relationship despite living under the same roof. This is mostly the fault of the father, Akira (Yoshida), a stoic workaholic who often spent more time on his company than family.
When Akira abruptly retires one day and spends more time at home, Akio (Sakaguchi) devises a plan to bond with his father: by playing the highly popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Final Fantasy XIV together.