The Extinction of Fireflies

The Extinction of Fireflies (2021) is talky film based on the legend of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his teenage lover Antinous but now recast with Hadrian as a playwright and Antinous as the lead actor's boyfriend.

It's okay and it has its moments, but they all belong to the remarkable Tracie Bennett, the British actress who was best known for playing the daughter in Shirley Valentine back in 1989 and a lot of British TV but had a midlife re-emergence on stage, winning Olivier awards on London's West End for shows like "Hairspray" and "She Loves Me" and scoring Oliver and Tony nominations for playing Judy Garland in "Over the Rainbow." I've seen her in televised versions of "Ruthless" and "Follies" and she most recently starred in a revival of "Mame." Anyway....

This film takes place at the playwright's East Coast beach house and there's much bickering between the writer (Drew Droege) and lead actor (Michael Urie) as they digress from the play to personal stories about their age gap etc. Bennett plays the highly theatrical actress whose role in the play is a sort of Greek Chorus from a funeral urn. The spoiler is Urie's boyfriend (Kario Marcel) who enchants middle-aged Droege and causes trouble.

Bennett steals every scene she's in.