Sam and Tusker are on holiday travelling around the Lake District as they comes to terms with Tusker's diagnosis of early onset dementia. They meet with family and friends along the journey which has some surprising revelations.
Unfortunately the story didn't have much more going than this short synopsis. There are no sub-stories of sub characters which disturb the main plot. My first impression of Sam and Tusker was also not a great one. We meet the characters in their camper van and their first interaction is bickering. So from then on, they were trying to sway me and make me care about them as a couple. The title of the film 'Supernova' has space references but you only see this touched upon briefly as stargazing seems to be a hobby of Tuskers, but not enough to associate the word supernova with this film.
The reason why I wasn't emotionally invested in this film was because I wasn't sold on Sam and Tusker as a couple. They lacked chemistry and I just didn't believe them as 'soulmates', but I think maybe that was because of the lack of backstory. There was clearly a lot of history between them and years spent happily together with successful careers, but we didn't get to see that. We only got to hear about the stories with no visual cue for the audience.
Whilst I didn't believe Sam and Tusker's relationship that doesn't take away from the performances of the lead actors. Colin Firth took on Sam and Stanley Tucci played Tusker. No one can doubt their credibility and skill as performers and in this picture they showed their class. There is always going to be a debate on whether straight actors can play queer characters but for me I love it when big named stars take on these roles. Only because it then draws more attention to media with queer love stories which is only a good thing.
The actual story of Tusker having dementia was very sad, yet as I wasn't invested I found it very hard to warm to the characters and feel any sympathy towards their situation. Supernova really did not hit with me, but I will leave one last positive in that the setting and location was spectacular. It shows of the Lake District landscape beautifully. The light they were able to capture was close to what our eye could see, and I was truly mesmerised.
Rating: 4/10
By Leanne
This is a strange film because on paper it sounds great: strong cast choices with Firth and Tucci both being brilliant actors and an interesting storyline. In execution, I'm sad to say that it fell short.
As Rebecca said, we love to see big name actors taking on queer roles as it definitely garners more attention and draws discussion to the film; which in turn will, hopefully, mean we'll continue to see more and more queer love stories on the big screen. Both Tucci and Firth do the best they can in dragging these characters to life with a limited story and script. It's hard to create exciting and interesting characters when so little is seen or told about them as a couple or even as individuals really.
The title of the film suggests that it will be bright and full of energy but it's the opposite really. We are dragged along the road with Tusker and Sam as they visit old friends and family and recount all their best memories together. These recounts are done through story telling rather than visually and I think that's a big shame. Seeing the couple in their younger years or even just learning more about them through flashbacks may have helped to create more of a connection to the characters for me.
I will say that one great think about this film is how visually pleasing it is. There are countless scenes that are stunning and look fantastic. This goes for the score too. There are lots of good moments where the music swells and ties a scene together nicely. It's just a shame that this can't be said for the whole film. I found the whole thing pretty boring and lacking in interesting, well-rounded characters.
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