Gabe (Rufus Sewell), flying to a science conference, says goodbye to his young son Erol and his wife Marika (Gillian Anderson), at the security gates at the airport. Marika speaks briefly with him by phone after he lands but that is the last time she will. Gabe has disappeared. He hasn't checked out of his hotel, no one has seen him. She enlists the aid of her father Sal (Victor Garber) as he set Gabe up with a work space at the university he teaches at but to no avail. The police are contacted. The students and faculty of the university are asked if they have seen Gabe. Nothing.
Twelve years pass since wife and son have seen their husband and father and the loss has taken a toll. Marika suffers from depression. Erol (Haley Joel Osment), while naturally gifted when it comes to mathematics, is a bit of a slacker and turns down acceptance to M.I.T. as he feels he cannot leave his mother. Sal approaches Erol with a powerful question, 'What if we can discover what happened to your father?'. A question that leads to obsession and a rift between Erol and his mother and Erol and his girlfriend Grace (Susanna Fournier).
I'LL FOLLOW YOU DOWN is a blend of Sci-Fi and family drama with heavy emphasis on drama. Sci-Fi is not used here as a reason for flashy FX, there is little in the way of FX, but to craft a scenario in which to see how the bonds between family members will play out. The acting is fine throughout with Anderson's performance notable for showing us how the passage of time has affected her character by using her voice and how she carries herself. But I never found myself drawn into this world. Other than curiosity as to what the twist will be (and there is a twist), I was never invested in the characters.
** out of ****
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