Fatherhood is one of resemblance with a big heart in Nowhere Special. Written and directed by Uberto Pasolini, this one of the most heartbreaking and thorough depictions of reality hitting a harsh plateau. A film dealing with the issue of how health failures impact others. With an opening shot of a day-to-day setting around Northern Ireland, there is that subtle undertone of sorrowfulness. A father with a health condition that will change his world and daily life forever. Nowhere Special is about finding the right outlet for someone who is impacted after the day he dies.

The father with the fatal health problem is John (played by James Norton), and he is a window cleaner. He is a single father to his son Michael (played by Daniel Lamont). John shows enormous love for Michael, as he reads to him, cleans him up, and plays with him all the time he possibly can. John though, is at a point where he only has a brief time to live. He speaks with other families and uses social services to see what options there are for Michael once he dies. Michael’s mother left them both. With Michael already growing up without a mother, he does not want Michael to know much about the situation. Michael is too young to understand the sense of this unnerving matter.

The emphasis on John spending time with his son Michael exemplifies the fact that there may not be many happy days left—that is why John and Michael are quiet all the time. With John only having so little time to live, he is determined to find a home that is a good fit for Michael. The golden and cheerful moments with John and Michael deliver a sense of their last moments of happiness together.  John finds himself concerned about how Michael will feel mentally once he is able to understand the depressing and uncontrollable scenario. John works with Shona (played by Eileen O’Higgins), a social services worker with a case set up for John regarding what happens to Michael after he passes. The moving parts of the legalities and case structure are what also feeds the emotions in Nowhere Special. 

Each moment John and Michael share is like a chapter in Nowhere Special. A chapter in life of feeling fulfilled before the worst happens. The film is straightforward in forming layers where the present matters. The focus is on empathy and hope that a loved son will have a family once his father is gone. A surreal moment and realistic portrait of this aspect is when John and Michael are in the park. There is a scene where Michael finds a beetle under a tree, but the beetle is dead. The moment of Michael and the beetle is one where John sheds some light their own situation, as he tells him, “It’s just not there”. A moment of truth that Michael will come to understand at one point in his life. The portrayal of optimism is one of a light waiting to be found in the aftermath that will happen one day.

How much does John truly hurt? How will John be ready for the inevitable? Nowhere Special fuels the thinking for its audience audaciously. It leads them down a sad road. The life for Michael after John is gone remaining unclear is where Nowhere Specialhits its breaking point. John cannot die knowing his son does not have a safe and comforting place after his death. The legal status, the considerations, and John’s life having shorter and shorter days throw the film into a spiral. It is invigorating in the curiosity it develops to know what comes next.

Nowhere Special creates the road block of patience in the context of complexity. It is a sensitive portrait of purpose. My empathy for John brought up a lot mixed feelings for me—he has joyful days and sad days with Michael and all of them bring a certain pain with them. There is a box of memories that comes around in Nowhere Special…the symbolism of love and compassion touches hearts deeply.  Nowhere Special delivers a mark of empathy with disconnect, meaning John will always love Michael, but due to the unforeseen circumstances, he must let Michael go knowing someone will love him like his father did. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for Nowhere Special.