AFI Fest 2021: Swan Song Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s AFI Fest, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Every once in a while comes a high-concept film that’s hard to talk about without giving too much away. When it comes to Swan Song (not this one), it is a film that is arguably best going into as blindly as possible. That being said, countless filmmakers have often used high-concept premises in order to address major themes and this is no different this time around, touching such issues as death, mortality, and identity. Though this sci-fi drama and the feature directorial debut of Benjamin Cleary boasts plenty of vision, its narrative doesn’t all work and comes off a little too one-sided. Nevertheless, a pair of great performances from Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, also the former’s first leading role surprisingly enough, make it all work well in spite of its issues. An undeniable emotional roller coaster, audiences better have their tissues ready as things will get tough and emotional.

Swan Song follows a graphic designer named Cameron Turner (Ali) who found himself diagnosed with a terminal illness. As his condition worsened, Turner struggled with the idea of telling his wife Poppy (Harris) and son Hugo (Dax Rey) the truth as the two looked towards the future as it looked more and more like he would not be a part of it. However, an experimental procedure afforded him the chance to not leave them behind and spare them from the pain of grief by creating a duplicate of himself to take his place. Ethically dubious for many reasons, the issues for Turner went far beyond that as changing circumstances only accelerated his sense of urgency.

Where Swan Song truly shined was within the introspective moments where Turner was faced with his own mortality and identity in terms of his relationship to his family and what he would be leaving behind for them and the world upon his passing. Taking a look back at his life through his memories almost felt dream-like as these surreal sequences were wholesome and compelling to watch while they also helped developed that relationship between Turner and his family which he cared so much about that this process was certainly not easy for him. Luckily he wasn’t alone as he had a woman named Kate (Awkwafina) to turn to.

That emotional slow burn paid off in spades thanks to the sensational performances from Ali and Harris as Cameron and Poppy and their dynamic chemistry. The masterful nuance and emotional depth from Ali was a joy to watch as he tackles the subtleties of a man faced with his own mortality was often heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Harris was equally up to the task, delivering plenty of depth of her own.

In the end, Swan Song should once and for all prove the leading man status of Maherhsala Ali.

 still courtesy of Apple

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.