Giovanni, once a distant observer of his patients' struggles, begins having difficulty analyzing them, particularly the one he went to see on the day Andrea died, against whom he shows signs of impatience and hostility.

The family welcomes Arianna and offers to host her in their home, but she informs them she is hitchhiking with her friend Stefano to spend vacation in France.

The family offers Arianna and Stefano a short ride, but it lingers to a point where they drive into the night and reach Menton, on the border between Italy and France.

Bidding Arianna and Stefano goodbye, the family watches their bus leave Italy and wanders on the beach as a new life awaits them.

Italian director Nanni Moretti first developed the idea for The Son's Room out of a longtime interest to write about a psychoanalyst and play one.

[3] Cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci said they opted to shoot in Ancona, looking for a sea and port and deciding against Genoa for its large size and Trieste for its distractingly beautiful buildings.

"[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

"[3] Stephen Holden of The New York Times assessed it as touching, drawing a parallel to the September 11 attacks that year, which showed how sudden tragedy devastates the living.

[9] David Rooney of Variety called it "a delicate drama of pain and grief," criticizing Moretti's performance as overly self-conscious but praising Morante as "deeply moving.