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.

LOVE drew droege and michael urie. I don't know too much about the other two actors. This one contains many themes. I liked it, but it brought up so many issues, it might have even had more impact if we had a few less things to think over. Roman history, hadrian and antinous, infidelity, open relationships, lack of knowledge of gay history. The hiv/aids story. Older, younger relationships. Jealousy. Drunk, messy alcoholics. Art critics. The group went from being friends and acquaintances to very angry people in just a few hours. And we never really heard what happened when callisto went off by himself. I thought it was very good, but a few less storylines would have simplified things. I do like the analogy of the fireflies, but the script already had enough going on. Written and directed by jame walsh.

Drew Droege has appeared in many gay films before, and always managed to create the best scenes in those films. In this film, he is one of the main characters, and certainly is the most charismatic of al of them. He plays an older playwright who is ridiculed by his friends behind his back, until a young man appears in his life, whom resuscitates sorely lacking sensuality and love back into his life. Drew Droege plays out this character's inner transformation with great nuance. The cross reference to the classical Greek love history of two gay lovers is also very cleverly incorporated.