A StudioCanal Picture, Written and Directed by Harry Macqueen.
Supernova (2021) tells the story of Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker (Stanley Tucci), partners for 20 years, as they travel across England to the Lake District, reuniting with friends and family. Tusker has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, so the pair plan to spend as much time together as they can before Tusker dies, and this film details a particular period in this journey.
We are immediately introduced with a beautiful opening sequence with a powerful score and shots of the stars, and we get to know our two leads, Sam and Tusker, and they are immediately convincing as a couple that has been together many years. They bicker between them and have an immediate short hand that only people who have spent a long time together can have, and their individual personalities are so well defined that you can see how they are very different people, who perfectly balance each other out when they are together.
The film is slow moving and really takes its time focusing on the characters, never straying into melodrama or major twists, with most of the film just being a two hander between Firth and Tucci in their campervan as they journey to see their family for one last time before Tusker is unable to remember them properly. There is a real sense of looming dread and sadness that hangs over the film, which is an accurate representation of the terrible disease and how it effects every aspect of peoples lives when diagnosed.
It is very much told from the side of Colin Firth’s Sam, which is a smart decision as it is often the loved ones of those diagnosed with something as cruel as dementia that have the hardest time, and also have to live with the pain after they are gone. Sam is struggling with the idea of knowing Tusker is going to die whilst also trying to make the most of the time he is alive and even says the heart-breaking line that “you’re not supposed to mourn someone while they are still alive” and it is a feeling everyone who has been through a battle like this will relate to.
One of the most devastating scenes is where Sam confronts Tusker and makes him listen to Tusker’s suicide tape that Sam found. Everything about it is heart wrenching, and both characters feel that pain and tension in many ways. The reason for that pain truly though is how much they love each other, and this is felt in the smallest of moments. When they are just sat eating dinner together, Tusker says to Sam “you just sit there, holding up the whole world” and it encapsulates just how much they mean to each other and how much they know they are going to lose.
Both Firth and Tucci are absolutely superb here, excelling particularly when they are together but also shining in the quieter moments on their own. Firth brings a real sadness and melancholy that comes with a situation like this, with real gravitas following him around with every word he says and glance he gives. Tucci on the other hand is much more of a joker, the life and soul of the party still, who deep down is terrified of what’s to come and the fact that he will no longer be his complete self. There has been a lot of talk again recently around whether only gay actors should be able to play gay roles, and whilst there is a huge range of factors that contribute to that debate and there are much more relevant and important voices in that debate than me, but it is worth noting how truly authentic and lovingly the two play these men. They never venture into any semblance of stereotype or cliché, and it is a perfect example of simply getting the best actors for the specific roles.
Overall, whilst undeniably a tough and emotional viewing experience, this is a film with two exceptional lead performers from veteran character actors, and it is a touching tale about love and the acceptance of loss. “Being sad something is gone, just means it was great while it was there”.
Rating = 3.5/5
Howe's World of Film and TV 