Nick and Brandon seem to be the perfect couple who have it all. Nick is an architect and Brandon a is a film director. They’re handsome, in the prime of life, share a beautiful Hollywood Hills home and have been together for eight years. Then comes the day when Nick tells Brandon that he’s tested positive for the AIDS virus. Brandon surprisingly over the next few weeks doesn't take the news very well, and everyday becomes very overwhelming, so much so that Brandon forces Nick to leave their home. Almost a year later, Nick finds out that he has untreatable brain lesions that will destroy his faculties within days. He decides to throw a two-day party, inviting relatives and friends, before taking his own life. Expectedly Brandon is not invited, but the former couple’s friend believes he needs to know what’s happening and leaves it up to him whether to attend. The party is an exuberant and awkward affair as all of Nick's loved ones try their best to be upbeat and make the guest of honor happy. Family members are in denial and Nick has to constantly reiterate that there is no hope. He would rather say good-bye to everyone now before he becomes a vegetable. More than an hour is focused on the various relationships that these people share. The film ends as expected but not before it leaves you choked up not once or twice but plenty of places.
This is probably one of the first films that examines the theme of an AIDS patient dying with dignity by taking their own life. It is a tearjerker and heartbreaker of a film, focusing on two people who are not perfect, family and friends who may or may not have been supportive so far and in future and more. The party gives Brandon a chance to reconcile with Nick who ha moved on from the fact at a time when he needed him the most, he threw him out. You can imagine that Brandon is greeted very coldly by Nick's friends and family but he sticks on realizing that the love of his life is finally going to die. He is guilt ridden and he knows his actions were inexcusable. Events at the party swing from drunken revels to introspective talk between friends, family, a father who never accepted Nick being gay and the nephew who are up adoring Nick and Brandon as a couple and now grown up and out gay cannot understand why Nick has to do what he is doing.
The theme of assisted suicide and dying with dignity is a volatile subject for some. What it boils down to is a matter of individual choice and that, rather than longwinded debate, is the film's emphasis. The acting by the leads is impeccable. Melodrama is kept to a minimum and much of the film is surprisingly restrained. Nick and Brandon's last kiss is a heartbreaker. You would have to be made of stone if your eyes don't water when Brandon picks Nick up and carries him to his bed so his family doesn't see him die. There are so many scenes between friends and family involving Nick that really choked me up. The awkwardness of the situation is superbly conveyed, as is the range of emotions from the participants. I personally didn't lose anyone to the disease that I was close to but while watching the film, every time I would put myself in any of the character's shoes thinking that I'm in a situation where either my family or friend or someone close decides to throw a party for volunteer death, how would I react and what would I do. It is extremely hard to describe the feelings. Even after all these years, if a film so old, can still Mae you cry, it has definitely aged well and in all honesty is still a devastating portrait of a reality that will still remain a very important chapter in queer history. (8/10)
Comments
I wonder about his question myself. The know what happened but do they really understand the gravity of it. My guess is some of them do, especially after seeing how Covid impacted the world. People became smarter and more empathetic.