REVIEW: ‘Spoiler Alert’ Captures Every Side of Love

Romantic comedies where something tragic happens are pretty standard at this point; add in Christmas, and it’s a tried and true formula. We enter these films knowing that we will be sad and hoping for a good journey along the way. Spoiler Alert knows this as a fact and takes time to tell a love story in all of its beauty and all of its rough edges, too, setting it apart from other. Directed by Michael Showalter and written by Showalter and Dan Savage, the film is based on the book “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies,” a memoir by Michael Ausiello. Spoiler Alert is a heartwarming, funny, and life-affirming story of how Michael and Kit’s relationship is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill.

It has been a stellar year for romantic comedies, but more so, we’ve got the chance to see queer romance explored in a variety of different ways. Fire Island brought us a take on Jane Austen, Bros tackled masculinity, and on the television side, Heartstopper captured wholesome teenage romance. Spoiler Alert offers something different yet again. It’s the “true story” that Hollywood loves to make, the tragic love story that makes you laugh and cry. It’s the perfect formulaic film, but the actors, their chemistry, and their vulnerability are what make Spoiler Alert my favorite rom-com of the year, queer or otherwise.

In the film’s beginning, we get to the awkwardness of falling in love and the fears that arise with a developing romance. They discuss intimacy, coming out, family, and the fear they both have of breaking each other’s hearts. It’s a heartwarming opening that feels authentic between the two. But the best part of this budding romance is the honesty that both Mike and Kit bring into their relationship. On their first night together, the couple navigates intimacy without pressure, allowing for insecurities and working through them. In fact, any time sexual intimacy is shown, its coupled with deep emotion, that is, either bonding the two through a tough moment or showing how they let themselves become vulnerable and trust each other.

That said, love is hard. It really isn’t easy, and anyone who says as much hasn’t been with their lover long enough to realize that you have to work for love because people are, well, people. The beauty of Spoiler Alert is that it captures that. Michael and Kit aren’t perfect people living the perfect fairytale, despite Michael’s yearning for a television love story. They’re both flawed, and they’re both burdened by that. Michael is insecure to the point of harming their sex life. Kit is uncommunicative and not a one-man kind of guy. Both their flaws feed the others, and yet, they love each other. Deeply. Capturing what it’s like to love others when it’s hard, Spoiler Alert manages to capture the adult side of love.

As the leads, Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge as Mike and Kit, respectively, are phenomenal. They’re funny, they’re deep, and their chemistry together is off the charts. Add in Bill Irwin and Sally Field as Kit’s parents, and it’s easy to fall in love with the love on the screen. This is particularly salient in how Mike’s narration is situated through the reveal in the film’s finale.

Spoiler Alert is very much the same story we’ve seen across the rom-com genre that ends with the character alone after some medical tragedy. But in that formula, it finds its own path in the genre, one that embraces every emotion you have when you love someone, and man, there is a lot. Although Christmas is central to the film as a holiday celebrated and loved by our lead Mike, by not making it a pure holiday film, Spoiler Alert situates itself in the larger romantic landscape. Spoiler Alert’s authentic take on love and the difficulties that come with it, makes it a film that captures more about being human than most romances, and that’s why it thrives.

Spoiler Alert is playing nationwide in theaters now.