Father Soldier Son (2020)
Story overview
Father Soldier Son is a 2020 documentary that follows Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch and his two sons over nearly a decade. After Brian is severely wounded in Afghanistan, the film intimately documents their family's journey through recovery, grief, and rebuilding their lives. It explores themes of military service, fatherhood, trauma, resilience, and the long-term impact of war on soldiers and their families through real-life footage and personal interviews.
Parent Guide
A powerful, emotionally intense documentary about real military trauma and family resilience. Contains graphic real-world content that requires maturity to process.
Content breakdown
Contains real footage of military operations in Afghanistan, scenes of soldiers being wounded, graphic hospital footage showing serious injuries and medical procedures, discussions of combat deaths. The violence is documentary-style and real rather than fictional.
Very disturbing content including graphic injury footage, emotional scenes of grief and trauma, discussions of death and disability. Shows the real psychological impact of war on soldiers and families. May be particularly upsetting for viewers with military connections.
Occasional mild profanity in emotional moments. No frequent strong language noted.
No sexual content or nudity present.
Brief references to pain medication use related to injury recovery. No glorification or excessive substance use shown.
Extremely emotionally intense throughout. Deals with trauma, grief, disability, family struggles, and the long-term psychological impact of war. Shows raw, unfiltered emotional moments that may be overwhelming for sensitive viewers.
Parent tips
This documentary deals with mature themes including war injuries, PTSD, grief, and family struggles. It contains real footage of military operations, hospital scenes with visible injuries, and emotional discussions about death and trauma. The R rating reflects intense real-world content rather than fictional violence. Best suited for mature teenagers who can process complex emotional topics. Watch with your teen to discuss the realities of military service and family resilience.
Parent chat guide
Parent follow-up questions
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- What did you notice about how the family helped each other?
- How do you think the boys felt when their dad was hurt?
- How does this documentary change your understanding of military service and its consequences?
- What did you think about the different ways family members coped with trauma?
- How does this film illustrate the concept of resilience?
- What responsibilities do we have toward veterans and their families?
🎭 Story Kernel
The film's core is a devastating examination of how military service, particularly combat trauma, fundamentally rewires the architecture of fatherhood and masculinity. It follows Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch over seven years, not as a hero's journey, but as a chronicle of erosion. The driving force is his desperate, often clumsy attempt to be both a soldier and a father to his two young sons, Isaac and Joey. The movie's true expression lies in the quiet moments where these roles violently conflict—his physical absence creates emotional chasms, and his psychological return home is incomplete, leaving his sons to inherit a legacy of stoicism and unprocessed pain. It's about the war that comes home and the battlefields that are dinner tables and little league games.
🎬 Visual Aesthetics
The cinematography is intimate, observational, and unflinching. The camera operates as a silent family member, using handheld shots that feel breathlessly close during moments of vulnerability—Brian's agonizing rehab, the boys' whispered conversations. The color palette is deliberately muted, dominated by the greens and tans of army life and the washed-out tones of their upstate New York home, visually linking the two worlds. There's a stark contrast between the chaotic, kinetic footage from Brian's deployment in Afghanistan and the static, often lonely compositions of domestic life. This visual language underscores the dislocation; home never feels fully vibrant, forever filtered through the lens of absence and injury.
🔍 Details & Easter Eggs
💡 Behind the Scenes
The documentary was filmed over nearly a decade by directors Catrin Einhorn and Leslye Davis, requiring an extraordinary level of trust and commitment from the Eisch family. Brian Eisch was initially approached for a short-term project about National Guard deployment; the filmmakers had no idea they would end up documenting his catastrophic injury and the long aftermath. Much of the vérité footage, especially the raw moments with the children, was captured because the directors became embedded fixtures in the household. The film's power stems from this unprecedented access, capturing life-altering events like Brian's decision to re-enlist and Isaac's subsequent enlistment as they happened, not in hindsight.
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Trailer
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