Supernova
Bleecker Street | Release Date: January 29, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJan 28, 2021
It’s rare to see a cinematic drama executed with such consistent care as Supernova, written and directed by Harry Macqueen and starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci. And here, that care pays off to devastating effect. Read full review
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 27, 2021
Tucci and Firth have never been better than they are here, and they earn every superlative that has been laid on them in early reviews. Read full review
91
Original-CinLinda BarnardFeb 16, 2021
Writer/director Harry Macqueen (Hinterland) does best with this deeply moving drama of devotion and the dread of approaching loss when he stands back and lets these two actors loose. Firth and Tucci provide arguably the best performances of their careers as two 60-something lovers facing a crisis. Read full review
90
SlateKaren HanJan 27, 2021
Supernova is modest in every respect except its emotional impact. In the characters’ internal arcs, the title—the name for a stellar explosion—comes fully into perspective. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJan 28, 2021
With these two actors in command, Supernova doesn’t just dare to speak the name of a love between two deeply committed men facing an untenable situation. It shouts it from the rooftops. Read full review
88
ObserverMax GaoJan 29, 2021
In a story that is as heartfelt as it is heartbreaking, Supernova is a moving look at the emotional toll that dementia can have on the powerless sufferer and their selfless caretaker, revealing that one can never have too much time with their loved ones. Read full review
88
The Associated PressMark KennedyJan 28, 2021
The actors Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth have been friends for 20 years and that is plainly evident watching them play longtime lovers in the wrenchingly beautiful film Supernova. The award-winning duo are like a well-worn sweater onscreen, comfortable and lived-in, showing the kind of tart affection people show when ardor’s lust has given way to the slow burn of adoration. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJan 28, 2021
It's the combined incandescence of the stars at the center of the screen, not the ones meant to be gazed at through telescopes, that carries the movie; its best and truest source of light. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJun 25, 2021
The two flawless performances, presented in the polite shades of prestige British cinema, make a winning case for the virtues of seasoned affection. An irresistible treat. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerJun 24, 2021
Supernova is a tender two-hander that gradually crushes your heart. What it lacks in cinematic width it gains in well-earned emotional depth, courtesy of delicate writing and two subtle but towering performances from Firth and Tucci. Read full review
80
CineVueMatthew AndersonJun 24, 2021
Full to the brim with sharp wit, emotional sincerity and overflowing with love, Supernova sees the star power of Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci align. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangFeb 17, 2021
Both actors know how to hit Macqueen’s more emphatic dialogue with a soft, glancing touch; they also know how to settle into the script’s familiar narrative grooves, its intimations of mortality and grief, in ways that will yield fresh, distinctive notes of humor, emotion and even surprise. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 22, 2020
Lovely, heartfelt performances from Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth carry this intimate movie. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 22, 2020
But it’s Firth’s Sam who finally carries the film’s heart, and exquisitely so, as his fear, anger and mounting insecurity lash out the more he tries to remain undemonstrative. (He also pulls off some able, plaintive piano-playing by his own hand.) Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJan 29, 2021
It’s a movie that finds most of its power through silence—the proud and yet pained look Tucci gives to Firth during that speech will stick with me for a long time. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 29, 2021
McQueen has matters of life and death on his mind, and the final act of “Supernova” puts them on the table with a frankness that’s admirable without wholly succeeding as drama; the script’s schematic nature shows through the cracks even as the actors themselves can’t be faulted. Read full review
75
CNNBrian LowryJan 29, 2021
Supernova is by any measure a modest production, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do: Creating a touching, low-key showcase for its stars, one that allows them to cast a bright light. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 28, 2021
Neither man is right; neither man is wrong. Neither man can do anything to ward off the inevitable. All they can do for now is soak in every last moment they have together, and oh do we wish for them to have as many of those moments as they possibly can. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisJan 28, 2021
Writer-director Harry Macqueen puts the fate of his film on the shoulders of his two leads — Colin Firth as Sam, Stanley Tucci as Tusker — and both actors deliver some of the best work of their careers. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubShannon MillerJan 27, 2021
Macqueen approaches the messy reality of letting go with measured sorrow, unrestrained tenderness, and even moments of joy. Read full review
70
Screen RantRachel LaBonteJan 29, 2021
Quietly immersive and poignant, Supernova excels as a showcase for leads Tucci and Firth, even when the story can't quite match them. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJan 29, 2021
Supernova isn’t adapted from a play, but it sometimes feels like it was, not because of its talkiness or the tightness of its focus, but because it has a tendency to be a little blunter in practice than its understated initial tone might have you expect. The performances are lovely, though, and they carry this minor-key movie through to its ambiguous end. Read full review
65
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzFeb 15, 2021
Supernova feels less like a film to cherish and more a tweet to favourite. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJun 27, 2021
While the result may occasionally get bogged down by dramatic contrivance, it’s generally buoyed up by a pair of likably bickering performances from the two leads. Read full review
60
Time OutEurico De BarrosJun 16, 2021
Harry Mcqueen keeps the film's emotional temperature in check, and Tucci and Firth do the rest, with sparingly expressive performances. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsFeb 18, 2021
As a film about two gay men in their middle age, Supernova does all the right things, anchors its sense of conviction in rhythms and silences, in-jokes and private conflicts, that cohere into a natural portrait of being together. In a word, it’s a solid, emotive drama, all the more so for the pain at the movie’s center being equally natural, valid, inevitable. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonSep 22, 2020
Plenty to admire here, if only this tasteful tearjerker lived up to its title with a few more explosive fireworks instead of settling for timid twinkles, ending not with a bang but a whimper. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 29, 2021
Credit is due to Dick Pope, the cinematographer, who toughens the film and somehow prevents the fabled grandeur of the locations from softening into the pretty. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePat BrownJan 18, 2021
Supernova is so obviously structured that it often seems to be imposing meaning on its characters. Read full review
45
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 30, 2021
If the script undercuts the enormity of what their characters are enduring, the two lead actors rescue the film from utter negligibility. Read full review
30
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJan 30, 2021
Supernova, despite a title that suggests a bright and glorious burst of energy, is a ponderous movie, a story about the end of life so determined to be taken gravely that it doesn’t let anything actually live. It’s abstractly tragic, about a vague idea of something rather than anything or anyone specific. Dementia is scary and sad. That’s about as particular as Supernova gets. Read full review
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