The 2021 film is a semi-autobiographical musical drama that explores the high-pressure creative process and existential anxieties of Jonathan Larson , the late creator of the revolutionary Broadway musical Rent . Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his feature directorial debut, the film stars Andrew Garfield as Jon, a struggling composer in 1990 New York City who feels a "ticking" in his head as he approaches his 30th birthday without having achieved success. Core Themes and Narrative
: After years of work, the Superbia workshop is a critical success but fails to find a producer. Jon’s agent, Rosa (Judith Light), tells him the hard truth of an artist's life: "You start writing the next one". Key Characters tick, tick...BOOM! 2021 - 115 min Dramma • ...
: Jon's childhood best friend who provides a critical perspective on Jon's privilege and the reality of life as a gay man during the AIDS crisis. The 2021 film is a semi-autobiographical musical drama
: A dancer who represents a different path to fulfillment, ultimately breaking up with Jon to pursue a teaching career. Jon’s agent, Rosa (Judith Light), tells him the
: Set at the height of the epidemic, the film highlights how the crisis ravaged the artistic community, adding a literal sense of mortality to Jon's figurative "ticking clock". This is personalized through his friend Michael’s HIV-positive diagnosis.
The film functions as a "musical within a musical," alternating between Jon’s 1992 stage performance of the rock monologue tick, tick... BOOM! and the literal events of 1990 that inspired it.
