Death of a Superhero on AllMovie

A young man growing up may not have a future to look forward to in this drama from director Ian FitzGibbon. Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is fourteen years old; he likes to draw comics and he wishes he had a girlfriend. None of this is unusual, but Donald has one problem that sets him apart from his peers -- he has leukemia, and after going through several rounds of chemotherapy, no one is sure if he'll grow to adulthood. As his parents (Michael McElhatton and Sharon Horgan) try to make sense of their son's anger and mood swings, Donald often retreats into a fantasy world he's created in his drawings where he's a strong, muscular superhero with a beautiful female sidekick who helps him battle an all-powerful villain, The Glove. As Donald tries to move forward in a life that may only last a few more years, he gets useful advice from Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis), a counselor and "death therapist," and he strikes up a friendship with Shelly (Aisling Loftus), a pretty teenage girl whose cynicism nearly matches his own. Death Of A Superhero received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.