‘Nowhere Special’ Review – A Special Film That Pulls On The Heartstrings

Life is moments. As is often the case, many of these moments happen instantly, and most time spent is slow and ordinary. Riddles fill life with questions, so those questions are usually answered. The simple gist of the matter can often be summed up as it is what it is. On that idea, the film Nowhere Special examines life’s mundanity and small moments. A movie about life and death that chooses to tackle the heavy topics and never sidesteps, as is often the case with films dealing with sentimentality and tragedy. Nowhere Special is as much a story about a father and son as it is about the human condition. Introspective, but never preachy. Emotional, but never soapy. The film is a subdued triumph with authenticity and intimacy in moments of happiness, sadness, and acceptance.

At the start, the film presents a working-class father named John (James Norton), who works as a window cleaner. He is a single father caring for his son Michael (Daniel Lamont). In addition to his hardships and life as a single parent, John is confronting the inevitability of his terminal illness and searching for a new family to adopt his son. The film begins in media res and avoids the scenes of diagnosis or life pre-illness. This film attempts to show the audience life as it unfolds. 

It is in this effort that the film rises above similar films such as Terms of Endearment and delivers a story equally as gut-punching but more real-life-focused in its execution. There are no romanticized happy endings or derivative monologues of the main character screaming, ‘Woe is me.’ Nowhere Special aims to show the day-to-day business of life as a single parent who happens to be confronting mortality.

Norton is devastating in the film and accomplishes his goals with effortless simplicity. He delivers lines like “I’m giving him a family and then taking it away.” There is no forced emotion but genuine delivery, and part of this stems from the chemistry between Norton and Lamont. Much of the film centers around their relationship, pulling on the heartstrings from their first scenes to moments of them eating breakfast. The audience knows fully well what inevitable fate is for John, even though the film smartly avoids showing the end. 

The film earnestly tackles the sensitive subjects of life and death. While reading a book to Michael called When Dinosaur Dies, he attempts to explain the inevitability of their situation. Here, Lamont, who shines throughout the film, displays his innocence, which never feels canned or rehearsed. The talk about death and what will happen is tender and laced with sincerity. There is an excuse for thinking you’re watching a real conversation or a documentary and not a film. 

“You won’t see me, but you can talk to me. You won’t hear me like you know now; you’ll hear me inside…” The movie strives to be more than a cliched tearjerker; when it delivers the feels, it elicits real waterworks. Emotions run high and are on full display as if they were happening.

Part of what makes the film successful, in addition to the performances, is the pacing. The film runs an hour and thirty minutes, but the emphasis on mundanity (which is by no means a strike) makes it feel longer than its runtime. Focusing on the little moments, the good and bad, helps paint a picture of life in general. Scenes showcase John as a window cleaner to emphasize the simplicity of his work and a certain ordinariness to him. In addition, the setting in rain-soaked Northern Ireland gives the film a melancholy vibe that is felt from start to finish. The dreariness is certainly no accident and enhances the unforgiving realities awaiting John and Michael. 

Nowhere Special succeeds by emphasizing the relationship between a father and son. Scenes such as John putting together a memory box for Michael to look at when he is older offer a gentle tenderness. The film is a perfect distillation of show, don’t tell. The audiences become invested in the day-to-day life of its characters, knowing full well this story does not have a happy ending. It is sentimental when it needs to be, but it never oversoaks the narrative. Scenes play out, and beats linger long enough to capture the feelings of hope and sadness. The audience is painstakingly walking in John’s shoes, trying to find the perfect family to adopt Michael. It is the classic race against time, but the pacing of it is methodical and genuine. 

Nowhere Special defies expectations and delivers a truly special film. It is unforgiving but honest, and that is the film’s strength and potency. It reminds us that life is nothing but moments in time.   

Nowhere Special opens in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on April 26, 2024, courtesy of Cohen Media Group. The film will expand nationally in the following weeks. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKPNVZ4pFgw]