Nova ’78 Is The Ultimate Punk-Lit Cult Nightmare No One Dares To Decode
Hello everyone. Let’s cut through the incense smoke and pseudo-intellectual fog for a moment. “Nova ’78” is not just another hipster-dusted documentary cobbled together with grainy old film stock, although it spends a suspiciously large portion of its runtime trying to convince you otherwise. No, this is an 1-hour-18-minutes-long séance for the cult of William S. Burroughs, rolled in political futurology and then deep-fried in late-’70s New York counterculture oil. What you get is a cross between a particularly overlong gig intro and a fever dream at an art school open mic night.
An Event That Didn’t Know What It Was
The so-called Nova Convention in 1978 clearly didn’t believe in trivialities like “making sense” or “explaining itself.” The film has Burroughs – 64 and still radiating the air of a man permanently unimpressed with everything – unable to even say what the event is. That, oddly enough, may be the most honest part of the documentary. It’s a time capsule, sure, but one buried so deep in the strata of its own self-regard that you practically need an archaeological degree – and probably a few controlled substances – to excavate it.
The Cameos Are the Best Thing Here
We’re talking Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Brion Gysin – cultural fossils who were already weathered by ’78 – popping up like prestige NPCs in a dying MMO. And then there’s the delightful surprise of a gawky interpretive dance courtesy of Merce Cunningham and John Cage. Directors Aaron Brookner and Rodrigo Areias clearly enjoy the slow-burn reveal, holding back these factoids until the credits, the cinematic equivalent of finishing a boss fight only to find out the loot’s been in your inventory the entire time.
Burroughs’ Dark, Dry Wit
One of the highlights? Terry Southern introducing Burroughs as “grand, groovy and beloved” before segueing into the cheerful topic of the Jonestown mass suicide. Yes, for those keeping score, that’s like opening your wedding toast with a reminder of the Titanic’s casualty list. Burroughs himself responds in perfect deadpan, reading a faux note from Dr. Benway of Naked Lunch infamy, with an excuse that makes you wonder if modern-day Twitter humor isn’t just plagiarizing him wholesale.
The Problem With the Message
Now, here’s where “Nova ’78” tries to level up from nostalgia quest to deep political prophecy. Burroughs declares space is the future. Not in the Elon Musk “let’s real-estate Mars” kind of way, but as an escape from the “aqualung of time” – an existential DLC nobody asked for. This philosophy went over the audience’s head back then and, I assure you, will go over a fair few today. The problem? It’s treated with the gravitas of an endgame cutscene while most viewers are still fumbling with basic controls.
Does It Work as a Documentary?
Kind of. If you like your history raw, unfiltered, and uninterested in holding your hand, it’s fascinating. If you need structure, context, or even the semblance of a coherent narrative arc, it’s about as forgiving as a Dark Souls boss. It captures the energy, confusion, and contradictions of post-punk New York brilliantly, but it also at times feels like it’s playing keep-away with meaning for sport.
Final Diagnosis
As a doctor, I’m prescribing this only to patients with high tolerance for aggressively uncompromising art and very low expectations of clarity. Side effects may include mild bafflement, smug satisfaction at catching obscure cultural references, and the urge to shave your head and start an experimental poetry collective. For the rest of you, this may be less of a film and more of an endurance test.
Overall impression: it’s a valuable but niche historical artefact – evocative, well-constructed, but at times hopelessly pretentious. Worth watching if you’re a Burroughs devotee or a cultural historian; for everyone else, it’s basically a raid only the hardcore guild will bother attempting. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Nova ’78’ Review: William S. Burroughs Takes Center Stage In An Immersive, Arty New York Time Capsule – Locarno Film Festival, http://deadline.com/2025/08/nova-78-review-william-s-burroughs-aaron-brookner-new-york-time-capsule-1236483054/
