Brad is not portrayed as a common criminal, but as a man suffering from a spiritual or existential overload. After a kayaking trip to Peru where his companions died, Brad returns changed. He begins to interpret the world through a lens of extreme religious and theatrical symbolism.
A central theme is the "theatre of life." Brad is cast in a production of The Oresteia , a Greek tragedy involving matricide. He begins to lose the distinction between his role on stage and his domestic life, eventually believing that he is acting out a divine or ancient mandate. Herzog uses this to explore the "ecstatic truth"—a state where a person’s inner reality becomes more "true" to them than the physical world. The Influence of Setting My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
The film eschews a traditional chronological narrative. Instead, it begins at the "end"—the police standoff following the murder of Mrs. McCullum (Grace Zabriskie). Through a series of interviews conducted by Detective Havenhurst (Willem Dafoe) with the killer’s fiancée and theater director, the audience reconstructs the descent of Brad McCullum (Michael Shannon) into madness. Brad is not portrayed as a common criminal,
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done is less of a procedural crime drama and more of a psychological portrait. Through Michael Shannon’s intense, volatile performance, Herzog captures the terrifying unpredictability of a mind that has completely detached from the collective reality. It remains a polarizing but essential work for those interested in the intersection of true crime, Greek tragedy, and avant-garde filmmaking. A central theme is the "theatre of life
This structure allows Herzog to focus on the why rather than the how . The film’s atmosphere is thick with "Lynchian" dread—slow pacing, bizarre non-sequiturs, and a haunting score—blended with Herzog’s signature fascination with the blurred lines between reality and delusion. Themes of Divine Madness