Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10.
Stephen Saito reviewing for Moveable Fest at Berlinale wrote, "True justice may be hard to come by in the world that’s depicted here, but in arriving at a strikingly fair conclusion, Sons does so by its characters trapped in an impossible situation."
Peter Debruge reviewing in Variety said, "Sons is not a pious tale of an inspirational prison guard." He opined that for Borgen fans, "Sidse Babett Knudsen’s performance reveals a more unpredictable side of the star, who gives an at-times feral turn fueled by rage and regret." Debruge in his review also raised questions such as: "Are there no background checks for Danish prison guards?" also "And no consequences for beating convicts nearly to death?" And then concluded with, "In Sons, the real question is: Where does the cycle stop?"
Davide Abbatescianni reviewing the film at Berlinale for Cineuropa wrote, "Gustav Möller crafts an accomplished sophomore feature telling us some uncomfortable truths about the lives of prison guards and inmates."
David Ehrlich of IndieWire reviewing at Berlinale graded the film B and wrote, "Unresolved and deflatingly rhetorical as it might be, Möller’s thriller maintains its bruising hold over us because it refuses to see that as a failure of his country’s prison system, as opposed to its ultimate success."
Nicholas Bell in Ion Cinema rated the film with three stars and said, "Ultimately, it’s a rather cold, melancholic film seeing how preventable certain miseries could be if everyone just took the time to look beyond themselves to respond with kindness."
Wendy Ide reviewing the film at Berlinale, wrote in ScreenDaily "A tough, taut character study of a woman driven, against all better judgement, to increasingly reckless and dangerous acts."
