Spoiler Alert: The love story of all love stories

Spoiler Alert, starring Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge, hit select cinemas in the United States on December 2, 2022. It is slated for a full release nationwide on December 9, 2022. Based on the memoir titled Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, by Michael Ausiello, the film is the story of Michael (Jim Parsons) and Kit (Ben Aldridge) as they journey through a life and a love that is brought to an end all too soon. 

The title of the film alone should tell you everything you need to know: this one is going to hurt, in both the very best and very worst ways. Tissues are definitely required for Spoiler Alert folks, as it’s just not possible to make it through the entirety of this film without completely coming unstuck. Maybe it’s because it’s based on a true story, or maybe it’s because the audience knows the inevitable ending. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Knowing that everything playing out on screen happened in real life takes viewers to a place of beautiful melancholy from the get-go. 

It’s a gay romance, but this is a universal story that everyone will be affected by, regardless of sexuality or gender. It’s the story of two young people who meet and fall in love, who get to spend a good handful of years together doing all the things that couples do (including fighting), only to learn that their time together is about to be taken from them far sooner than anyone could have anticipated. 

Michael meets Kit in a club one night in New York City, and against all awkwardness, Kit is actually into Michael. This seems to be a surprise for Michael, who definitely has some hangups about himself that are explained as the film progresses, and the pair begin dating properly. 

The hesitation that Michael, a journalist in New York City, has in bringing Kit back to his place shows that Michael has a hard time letting folks in. Or maybe it’s just that people have made him feel a certain type of way so he has his guard up, but eventually, Kit wears Michael down and takes him back to his place in Jersey City. 

When they get back to Michael’s apartment, Kit freaks out a little and, well, it’s understandable as to why. Spoiler Alert… the apartment is simply covered in smurf paraphernalia. It freaks Kit out, naturally, but it also leads to a moment of vulnerability on Kit’s part too and he shares that he isn’t especially good at the relationship thing. This seems to be the catalyst they both needed to launch their relationship from casually dating into one of commitment and exclusivity. 

And so begins thirteen years of love, cohabitation, and eventually the beginning of the breakdown of their relationship too. Despite the fact that Michael and Kit fall madly in love, they end up bringing out the worst in each other at times as well. They go to therapy, but it doesn’t seem to help much, and they end up moving into separate apartments and spending some time apart from each other, but not completely away from each other. 

Their relationship is clearly not perfect, and it’s obvious they don’t really know how to reconcile the differences that pop up between them over the years. As all humans do, they make mistakes and they stumble as they try and find ways to work through (or not work through) the issues they endure. But that’s representative of life, right? Relationships are rarely ever the picture-perfect story that Hollywood would have us all believe, and Michael and Kit’s relationship is no exception. It’s real, and flawed, but beautiful all at the same time. 

Then, Kit discovers he has an aggressive form of cancer in his rectum, and everything changes. He gets very sick very quickly and his mortality is impossible to ignore. His body doesn’t respond to treatment and the cancer spreads everywhere. Spoiler Alert …Kit is going to die, and there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. 

Without hesitation, Michael steps in as Kit’s carer immediately. The love they had for each other never really went away, it just got lost in the minutiae of careers, life, and capitalism. Kit’s illness makes them realize what is important and they pick up where they left off. Before he dies, Kit asks Michael to marry him. 

When the real-life Kit Cowan died, he was only 42. The Spoiler Alert movie makes no effort to hide the fact that the co-lead of this story doesn’t make it out in the end. However, this isn’t one of those films where you get to the end, shed some tears, and then get on with your day. No folks, this is one of those films where you spend half the film a blubbering, crying mess because you know exactly what is coming. We emerged from the theater questioning all our life choices, wondering if we had prioritized the right things in the right amounts, and asking ourselves if we had loved enough. 

If you’ve ever lost anyone to cancer, especially quickly, this film is a harrowing reminder of just how fast medical issues can take hold, and just how precious love and life really is. Knowing full well that their days are numbed, Michael and Kit waste no time doing what they can to live out the rest of their days together in the fullest way possible. 

Understanding that the end is coming doesn’t make it any easier when it does. Tears were already freely flowing by that point, but wow, we learned the true and honest definition of ugly crying during the closure of this film. 

After Kit passes, Michael says that he wanted a fairytale love story, but he ended up getting a real one instead and that folks, is where we realized that this was a story that we were going to carry with us for a very long time. 

Despite all the tears, the guttural sobbing, and the mountain of Kleenex used, Spoiler Alert leaves much to be pondered. Emerging from the cocoon of pain the film wraps one in, it’s impossible not to see the beauty this story sprinkled, like fairy dust, all the way through the film. Michael and Kit may have lost each other in the end far earlier than life should allow, but they were lucky in a way that many people are not. 

They got to experience love, true love in its purest form, through all its ups and downs, trials and tribulations and were wrapped around each other at the end. Their love was stronger at the end than it was when they first began, despite the journey they endured. And that folks, is a thing of pure beauty. Despite the devastating conclusion, Michael and Kit were lucky to have each other through it all. 

As we sit here writing this through our ugly tears (again) we urge everyone to go and see this film. We hope everyone also buys the book. Michael Ausiello has created a timeless and beautiful tribute to a life and a love that is clearly worth celebrating. No other story has impacted us so greatly in a very long time. 

Jim Parson and Ben Alridge clearly understood the assignment and their performances as Michael and Kit were nothing short of miraculous. Because of them, we feel like we got to know these two humans a little as we shared their journey with them. 

To Michael Ausiello, thank you for sharing your heart and soul with the world. We will be forever grateful that you let us into your life and that you shared your relationship in all its glory with us all. We are not worthy. 

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Spoiler Alert is available now in select theaters in the United States. It will be available nationwide on December 9, 2022. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!