'It feels like a horror film': New dementia dramas 'Falling,' 'Supernova' aim for truthfulness over tears

Viggo Mortensen knows very well what's it's like to lose loved ones to dementia. 

His mom, Grace, died in 2015 from complications of the condition, and his dad, Viggo Sr., died less than two years later after his own dementia battle. The "Lord of the Rings" actor has also watched three of his four grandparents – as well as aunts, uncles and his stepfather – struggle with dementia.

"It's something I'm familiar with, and had never seen accurately reflected in movies about dementia or Alzheimer's," says Mortensen, 62, making his directorial debut with "Falling" (in theaters, on demand and digital platforms Friday), in which he plays a gay man caring for his bigoted, dementia-stricken dad (Lance Henriksen). 

"Even in the best portrayals, it involves somebody who's confused most of the time," he says. "My experience is that those who are confused, by and large, are the observers, not the person (with dementia). Because that person is actually seeing, hearing and feeling those things. They seem real to them – not confusing." 

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Which is why with "Falling," Mortensen wanted to put viewers in the shoes of somebody suffering from dementia. It's part of a larger trend of new movies aiming to deliver more visceral and nuanced perspectives on the cognitive disorder, including the Stanley Tucci drama "Supernova" (in theaters now, available digitally Feb. 16) and awards contender "The Father" (in theaters Feb. 26, available March 26 as premium video on demand). 

These challenging and often grim films are in stark contrast to more uplifting dementia tearjerkers we've seen about siblings ("The Savages") and partners ("The Notebook") rallying to care for ailing loved ones, and people bravely persevering through diagnoses ("Robot & Frank" and "Still Alice," an Oscar winner for Julianne Moore).

Anthony Hopkins plays the titular "Father" in Florian Zeller's intimate drama, adapted from the French filmmaker's 2012 stage play. The movie has been praised by critics for the disorienting way it's written and shot, as Hopkins' character (also named Anthony) grapples with progressing memory loss. Anthony has long conversations with his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), and caregiver, Laura (Imogen Poots), only to realize much later that they're someone else entirely or he's all alone. He shuffles through his London apartment searching for a wristwatch and chicken dinner that never materialize, arguing with loved ones and nurses who are actually just memories. 

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"The idea from the beginning was to put the audience in a very unique position, as if they were seeing what it means to lose your own bearings," Zeller says. "They're supposed to go through that labyrinth, trying to figure out and question everything they're going through." 

"Falling," to a lesser extent, deploys similar editing tricks to reflect the deteriorating mental state of Willis (Henriksen). The film frequently cuts to vivid flashbacks of Willis' tumultuous past as an abusive father and husband, sometimes while the character is mid-sentence. His son, John (Mortensen), patiently listens as Willis drifts between memory and present day, even as he hurls homophobic and racist remarks. He also doesn't try to correct his dad when he misremembers. 

"Join their point of view, to some degree. Meet them," Mortensen says. "If somebody who has dementia tells you they just had lunch with someone you know has been dead 30, 40 years, the worst thing you can do is say, 'They're not here anymore.' Because then they are upset and confused, and that person dies again. What do you do instead? Say, 'What did you have for lunch?' " 

Making peace with dementia, as well as death, is central to both "Falling" and "Supernova." The latter follows a musician named Sam (Colin Firth) whose husband, Tusker (Tucci), is diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Together, they're forced to acknowledge how it'll affect their relationship, but also the bleak reality of Tusker's quality of life as his motor skills, spatial and visual abilities decline (common effects of early-onset dementia, writer/director Harry Macqueen says). 

"In a way, it feels like a horror film," Macqueen says. "There's this sort of unsaid thing in the corner of the room that's changing these people's lives and ultimately they have to confront that. Those melodramatic tropes of this kind of cinema is something I wasn't interested in. Being more restrained and, dare I say, poetic with how we were doing it was at the forefront of my mind." 

Coupled with last year's "Relic," an Australian horror movie that imagines dementia as a demon of sorts, Macqueen hopes this new wave of films encourages more realistic, less sugar-coated depictions of dementia going forward. 

"This stuff doesn't need to be overdramatized too much," he says. "It's stuff that so many people are dealing with all over the world. In keeping with the truthfulness of the situation, it felt to me more grounded, and hopefully more nuanced and subtle."

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