- Starring
- Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, Pippa Haywood
- Writer
- Harry Macqueen
- Director
- Harry Macqueen
- Rating
- R (United States)
- Running Time
- 95 minutes
- Release Date
- January 29th, 2021
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Florian Zeller’s dementia drama The Father is one of the defining films of the 2020/2021 awards season and has generated a significant amount of buzz, but it isn’t the only film on the awards circuit this year that revolves around a protagonist struggling with dementia. Harry Macqueen’s Supernova tackles very similar themes with a slightly different approach.
Supernova stars Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as Sam and Tusker, a couple who have been partners for over twenty years, who decided to travel across England in an RV to take a trip down memory lane and reunite with friends and family. As it is revealed that Tusker is diagnosed with early onset dementia, the pair strive to make as many significant memories as they can, before Tusker completely loses his memory and sense of reality.
Supernova is a deeply tragic film that explores the importance of human connection and the strain that a illness such as dementia, places on a relationship. Anchored by two brilliantly understated performances, the film is an authentic portrayal of long-lasting love that will likely have an emotional impact on many viewers.
Tucci is an actor who is incredibly talented, but has never gotten his due with the industry. This may be his best performance, as he approaches the material in such an empathetic and honest fashion that makes it easy to connect to his character. His banter with Firth is very compelling, and there is such a familiarity between the two actors that makes it easy to believe that their characters have known each other for a lifetime.
While the performances are undeniably strong, Macqueen’s lack of experience as a filmmaker unfortunately shows, as the film is overall tonally uneven and slight, which significantly hinders its emotional impact. The screen time shared by the two lead actors is when the film thrives, but a large portion of the film throws other characters into the mix that do not add anything of substance.
While Supernova is certainly an uneven film that never reaches its full potential, its ultimately worth watching due to Tucci’s masterful performance.
still courtesy of Bleecker Street
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