Supernova shines like a star

Supernova begins with a bang right as the first scene opens with Sam's naked leg draped over Tucker's body in bed. What this immediately does is set the movie up for the care and affection that Sam has for Tucker. It quickly highlights that writer and director Harry Macqueen is not afraid to depict quiet moments with the gay couple deftly skillfully by Colin Firth as Sam and Stanley Tucci as Tucker. 

The film quickly moves into a buddy roadtrip adventure across England full of uncomfortable, but realistic, situations. The drama unfolds as we discover Tucker is an American and Sam is English, making them a bit of an odd couple. The relationship works though and we can see why because of the love and mutual respect they continually give each other. Tucker's health declines and Sam tries to hold their relationship and future together over the course of 93 minutes.

While it took many straight allies working together to make a gay film, this endeavor does get many things right in terms of tone and avoiding typical stereotypes. Aging gracefully and treating our partners kindly is not often shown in the world of gay cinema, so Supernova certainly rises to the occasion. 

It is refreshing to see such strong acting and an important storyline, that in this case, is not forced or over-the-top. The team that made Supernova should celebrate this accomplishment after much of the media and population still struggles to accept gay couples for who they really are, just the same as anyone else.  

After a recent screening, Macqueen, Firth and Tucci met up over a virtual call to discuss the commonality we all have with Supernova. 

Macqueen was inspired to make the movie by the story of a woman battling dementia, but changed the story to a gay couple to make it more "forward thinking and original." 

Firth stated that he joined the cast after admiring Macqueen's debut project Hinterland. Tucci seemed astounded that being gay would still be an issue to anyone and mentioned in Supernova that fact is not even discussed.  

Supernova is released in some theaters on January 29 and digitally on February 16.