Hot on the heels of The Father, another film about dementia, Supernova has arrived in cinemas.
Stanley Tucci plays Tusker, an author, succumbing to the condition. The film depicts his holiday in a camper van with his long term partner, Sam (Colin Firth). They visit family, friends and old haunts but Tusker has a plan that will devastate Sam.
With its disorientating style, The Father showed the disease from the perspective of the sufferer. Supernova, though, concentrates more of the effect on Sam and other loved ones. As good as Tucci is, then, this is Colin Firth’s film. He gives a tremendously touching performance as someone struggling to know how to act, and how he will cope as Tusker’s condition worsens.
Writer/director Harry MacQueen does provide a few obvious tear jerking moments but, for the most part, this is a thoughtful, melancholic film with a typically understated performance from Firth.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10