Editor's Note: The following may contain spoilers for Spoiler AlertIf you’re still sobbing over the delicate nature of what director Michael Showalter accomplished with The Big Sick, you have another weepie to look forward to. Spoiler Alert tells the powerful story of veteran TV Guide writer Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons in a career-best performance) and his longtime boyfriend, the photographer Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge). Despite their very different personalities, the couple keeps getting drawn back to each other as they help one another cope with their respective issues. Michael lives in constant anxiety due to his childhood obesity, and Kit has yet to tell his parents that he is gay.

Unfortunately, they’re forced to address the latter issue sooner than they anticipated when Ben is diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. While he has had some illnesses in the past, Kit realizes that this time, it will be fatal. As Kit and Michael care for each other, Kit’s parents Marilyn (Sally Field) and Bob (Bill Irwin) come to stay with them. Vowing to live life to its fullest, Kit is determined to make the most of the time he has left.

While it’s unquestionably a very tragic story, Showalter does a great job of fleshing out the relationship and telling the story in an interesting way. Since Michael is both the narrator and a television critic, segments of his childhood are presented in a mock sitcom setting. It’s nice to see a film that so confidently shows queer intimacy, and there’s enough humor in Michael and Kits’ early flirtations that it balances out the heartbreaking conclusion. Similar to The Big Sick, Spoiler Alert was inspired by a powerful true story.

spoiler alert jim parsons ben aldridge social featured
Image via Focus Features

Is ‘Spoiler Alert’ Based on a Book?

Michael Ausiello’s 2017 memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies chronicles his 13-year relationship with Kit, including their marriage in 2014, and Kit’s death in 2015. Ausiello’s novel drew critical acclaim for its endearing message about facing inevitability with positivity. While Ausiello acknowledges that he wishes he was granted more time with Kit, he’s thankful for all of their memories together. Given his background as a journalist, Ausiello incorporates fun popular culture references within the memoir that make it more entertaining.

The memoir was inspired by a series of Facebook posts that Ausiello sent to a private group of friends that chronicled Kit’s diagnosis up until his death. Among the members of the group was the Simon & Schuster publishing company employee Rakesh Satyal, who prompted Ausiello to compile his memories into a book. Ausiello’s posts are faithfully included in the film, which ends with a video of the real Kit that Ausiello had taken.

Following the rapturous response to the novel, the film was put into production after Parsons signed on to star as Ausiello. With The Big Bang Theory’s conclusion in 2019, Parsons has taken the opportunity to take on queer roles, including the stage adaptation The Boys in the Band and Ryan Murphy’s limited series Hollywood. Ausiello was a consultant on the film and was on set during some sequences.

Ben Aldridge, Jim Parsons, Sally Field, and Bill Irwin in Spoiler Alert
Image Via Focus Features

How Close Does ‘Spoiler Alert’ Get to the Truth?

In an interview with Today, Ausiello acknowledged that he “was always aware that we were making a movie" and never felt like he was “watching my life unfold again before my eyes.” However, he did mention that some scenes are so faithfully adapted from his memoir that there “were times where it took my breath away with how similar it felt to the actual experience.” He called the film a “collaborative experience,” and said that the experience of being on set actually helped him during the healing process. He bonded with Parsons and developed a close friendship with him throughout the production process.

According to Ausiello, one of the funniest moments in the film is painfully close to reality. Due to a childhood affinity for the Smurfs television show, Ausiello began collecting Smurf merchandise and collectibles when he was very young. In addition to supporting his burgeoning television fandom, Ausiello says that the collection helped him cope with the death of his mother, who was also diagnosed with cancer. This made things a bit awkward when he first brought Kit to his apartment, but Ausiello teases that his real collection is actually much more extensive than the one seen in the film.

Ausiello also noted that the performances by Sally Field and Ben Aldridge were particularly close to Kit’s real parents. Marilyn is a bit frantic and takes pleasure in cooking for Kit, and Bob makes a few humorously awkward remarks about how he and his wife are “very hip.” Ausiello said that given his own parents’ death, he felt like he has been accepted into a new family by Marilyn and Bob, and has frequently visited them following Kit’s death.

Jim Parsons sitting in a restaurant in Spoiler Alert
Image via Focus Features

Ausiello also notes that critical scenes such as the couple’s therapy session and Kit’s impromptu marriage proposal were particularly close to reality. Kit had proposed after revealing that the rectal cancer had spread to his brain, and Ausiello praised how Showalter was able to give his actors “so much space, so much breathing room to sort of find the little moments within that scene.” He also noted that a critical sequence at the end of the film, where Kit, his parents, and Ausiello take their last vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey was inspired by a few real photos that Kit had taken during his career as a photographer. A video that Ausiello took during the real trip was used by Showalter to craft the sequence.

What is Michael Ausiello doing now?

Ausiello is a lifelong television fanatic and began his career with bylines in Soaps in Depth and Entertainment Tonight before starting his career at TV Guide in 2000. During the emergence of online journalism, Ausiello wrote the weekly column “Today's News, The Ausiello Report,” and answered questions submitted by digital readers. As seen in the film, Ausiello helped TV Guide transition into the website TV Line, which is still a popular online platform. The film’s title, Spoiler Alert, is a reference to TV Line’s spoiler breakdowns of recent television shows.