Supernova explores the relationship between two lovers, Sam and Tusker (Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci respectively), as they camp across their homeland, England. Tusker has recently been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and whilst he is still lucid, there are increasingly often periods of complete forgetfulness involving everyday tasks. The two are holidaying as a last hurrah, before life gets more difficult, and Tusker requires constant care. Along the journey, they make it back to the spot where they first got together, and to Sam’s sister’s house for a surprise party, with the final destination to be a cottage where Sam will perform a piano concert, before returning home. Supernova is directed by Harry Macqueen.
This is all very serious. Whilst the movie aims for ‘bittersweet’, sometimes the sweetness skims like a heavy plane trying to get off the ground. As a small and simple story, it leans very heavily on the performances of its lead stars – smart that it nabbed these two then; Firth, as always, has a gravitas that cuts to the wick of any sombre scenario so readily. Tucci, is so versatile; he’d be in the top echelon of my favourite actors actually, and is always a joy to see in whatever he’s doing. But whilst there’s nothing wrong with their individual performances, the characters, or anything else that matters, there were large patches of the movie where I just didn’t believe them – as a couple, that is. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to seeing them straight in other things. Perhaps it’s an overuse of Sam sneaking worried-but-doting glimpses of his long-time lover, as if the movie is trying too hard to convince me of their status. Perhaps it’s their dynamic, as Tusker seems much sturdier than Sam, beyond just in planning how they’re going to deal with their health predicament. I honestly can’t really put my finger on why, and this is me clutching at straws. But undoubtedly, there’s a severed connection in my founding absorption of this premise, that put me on the backfoot.
Yet still, after movies like The Father and Still Alice – other movies I appreciate that touch on the subject of dementia – Supernova stands strong, contemplating the fallout between two life-long partners about to have their world turned upside down. Sam is charged with the task of ‘going on’ without Tusker, reshaping a new life alone and/or devoting himself to fulltime care, and you get the sense that the future is going to be rougher on Sam than it is for the bloke that’s about to lose his way of life. Through the movie, Tusker shines bright; an accomplished writer with loving friends and family, and, like a supernova, the spark that makes him who he is, is about to run dry and cease to be – that’s poetic and I think that’s cool, brought to us in the movie’s title and conversations within the movie about stars. At first, I also didn’t consider it too significant that Sam and Tusker are a gay couple, but I guess it is, as it adds more depth to the pressure that the circumstances of the movie have put on them – if they were man and woman, a yin to a yang if you will, then I think there’d almost be a casual acceptance that the pair would feel incomplete if they were separated. These guys are two yangs that have etched out a passion for life together, and finding that again or coping without it just feels rarer, harder, elevating conversations between them – don’t be offended if you’re one of those who preaches ‘love is love’, because I don’t know, and that’s just the way I see it.
Supernova could be one of those really-good movies, that just didn’t appeal to me (cue Minari). The more I talk and think about it, I convince myself that this movie is pretty good, but I can’t deny that while watching it, I personally found some of the dialogue and scenes repetitive, and boring. It makes you think that dementia can’t be portrayed as anything but life-stifling misery, and once I got the gist early on, nothing changed to release me from my funk. Don’t get me wrong, finding out yourself or a loved one has dementia would be absolutely abysmal – it’s one of my worst fears for myself and the people I care about – but what I mean to say is, as movie content, I felt like compared to The Father, that left me with a sense of appreciation for life, and a feeling of deep sympathy for its characters, Supernova makes you feel like you should pack it in, because nothing in this world can ever be good again. I also suppose I might have connected to Supernova more if I was in a longer-term relationship, because I could have empathised, but I’m only reaching for answers because I know the movie has received great praise elsewhere. I do like things; I swear! But at the end of the day, I can only give my personal reaction to the movie. And although I hope to remember Supernova, I can’t see me ever wanting to watch it again.
2.5
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