Relationships can be tricky, none more so than with your parents. If you get on, great, count yourself lucky, but if you don’t, it can lead to plenty of issues that are stubborn to ever leave.

This film from Rodrigo Garcia, directing his first major feature since 2011’s Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close, gets its fingers in the dirt, literally, getting to grips with the dysfunctional relationship two half brothers had with their father.

Although not exactly close, Raymond (Ewan McGregor) visits his brother Ray (Ethan Hawke), as he has some bad news; their father has died.

It’s news that neither really care for, considering how appallingly he treated them growing up, but Raymond feels a need to go, for closure if nothing else, and needs Ray there.

It certainly makes for an interesting visit, not only for the other mourners who turn up for the service, but also for their father’s unusual last wish.

This is certainly a film that is likely to resonate with anyone who doesn’t get on with their parents in general, and sons with their disagreeable fathers specifically.

It highlights the fact that many men aren’t cut out for fatherhood, and yet that doesn’t prevent them from spawning. It also shows, for the two brothers at least, that they can still manage to surprise after they die.

For instance, from talking to the locals, they learn that that their father was a respected and much liked member of the community, which certainly doesn’t tally with their experiences.

Garcia examines not only how we respond to grief, but what we can also learn from it.

Both McGregor and Hawke give a strong account of themselves, in a film that forces both of them to display their many vulnerabilities, which are mental scars they still carry from their difficult relationship with their father.

It is somewhat cracker dry, sustaining the one note throughout, but when it loosens up it reveals a fun and quirky side that is most welcome.

It’s no surprise that Raymond & Ray is released through AppleTV+, as it’s not exactly a huge commercial feature, despite starring Obi-Wan Kenobi and Moon Knight’s Arthur Knight; it’s quietly personal, highlighting the hurt and anger that can often come with grief.

It’s a little heavy-handed in places, like Ray’s torment with jazz, which let’s face it, we’ve all been there, but manages to balance it with some lighter moments too.

It’s a film that may not reveal a light at the end of the tunnel for the recently deceased, but perhaps those left behind in their emotional wake, grieving them.