Film Pick of the Week: Supernova - review by Yvette Huddleston
Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci are both on magnificent form in this affecting love story from actor-turned-writer-director Harry McQueen. They play long-term partners who have been together for decades and are now faced with the difficult central question of the drama – what each of us is prepared to do for the ones we love.
Sam (Firth) is a respected pianist and composer and Tusker is a renowned, award-winning novelist. Both successful in their chosen fields, their careers have been temporarily put on hold as they come to terms with Tusker’s diagnosis of early onset dementia. Tusker, the more extrovert of the two, insists to all their friends that he is fine and quiet Sam is stoically coping but admits that he is scared.
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Hide AdIn order to cheer themselves up a bit and to tie in which a recital that Sam has been asked to give, after which he says he is going to give up work and focus on looking after Tusker, the pair decide to head out on a road-trip in their ageing campervan. This kind of travel was something they used to do regularly and the trip is perhaps as much about reconnecting with their past as anything – to serve as an upbeat counterpoint to their unsettling present and uncertain future.
They head up towards the Lakes with their dog Ruby, sharing in-jokes and good-naturedly bickering all the way. Then they stop off with Sam’s sister and her family, meeting up with old friends while they are there. Tusker is putting a brave face on things, but he is actually sicker than he lets on and while he claims to be still working on his latest book, he is struggling. Instead, he takes solace in observing the stars in the night sky and there is a lovely moment of hope and clarity that both acknowledges the smallness of our own problems when compared to the vastness of space and our connection with it.
The film is all the more moving for its restraint and both stars give nuanced, authentic and unshowy performances. Old friends in real life, their easy intimacy feeds into their on-screen relationship and there is a lovely natural chemistry between them. It is a beautiful, gentle, totally unsentimental film that addresses some profound themes such as love, loss, mortality and the cruelty of dementia, with a deft lightness of touch. There is plenty of warmth, humour and humanity here.