• LIKE on Facebook • FOLLOW on Twitter • FOLLOW on Instagram

• SUBSCRIBE on YouTube • BUY ME A COFFEE on Ko-Fi

Stars: Skeet Ulrich, Anne Heche, Daniel Diemer
Director: Herbert James Winterstern
Distributor: Vertigo Releasing

“This is the best chance I’ve ever had of understanding dad.”

From Vertigo Releasing, Supercell presents the thrill of the chase, and what it means to be a stormchaser.

Opening in West Texas, the legendary Bill Brody – locally renowned stormchaser – is in pursuit of the ultimate storm, but unfortunately, he pays the ultimate price. 10 years later, the son he left behind, William (Daniel Diemer), is ready to chase his own identity as he too wants to chase the storm. Coming into possession of his dad’s belongings, sent by Uncle Roy (Skeet Ulrich), his mum and Bill’s widower, Quinn (Anne Heche) – who formerly participated and assisted Bill in his work – is apprehensive over William pursuing the same life choices, and is adamant that he establishes a different career.

Running away from school and home, Will meets up with Roy. A wholesome family reunion which, whilst touching, reveals the disappointment that the “Brody” family business has transcended from a family setup of chasing tornadoes for the love and spectacle of science, to a minibus adventure for tourists, spearheaded by Alec Baldwin’s Zane.

Though not his father, Skeet Ulrich’s Roy is, at present, the closest thing that William has to a father figure during the difficult teenage years of his life. His fed up mother, Quinn – played excellently by Anne Heche in one of her last roles – has a drastic amount to deal with as she battles the inevitability and rebellious determination of an ambitious, dedicated teen, who is the son of the most legendary stormchaser.

Supercell has the challenge of balancing the story and the spectacle. At the heart of the film, we have a fatherless son who just wants to embrace his father’s legacy and absorb it. But, on the cover, this is a tornado film. Quite successfully, Winterstern’s Supercell manages to really gear towards the individuals amongst the chaos, rather than the chaos itself. However, when needed, the beauty of the distant tornado and surrounding storms is quite astonishing. Supercell is more than just a sugar-free Twister.

Ultimately, Supercell is a very worthwhile B-movie disaster flick. Though arguably predictable throughout, the sheer warmth presented by a family unit of characters, stunned by the full-on wrath of God’s work in the background, is enough to help eradicate the boring traits of direct-to-video VFX films.