Posted by Supercell was a little groundbreaking event of 2023 independent cinema. Produced with a small budget compared to the usual Hollywood movie, the film reached a surprising result and was appreciated by all fans of catastrophic films. Up to the point that everybody wondered if it was based on a true story and if the storm chaser Bill Brody was inspired by someone who really existed. Let’s have everything explained.
You can watch the official trailer for Supercell here on Youtube.
Supercell movie: who inspired the storm chaser Bill Brody?
The movie Supercell tells the story of the storm chaser Bill Brody, who dies years before trying to use a device he invented under a giant tornado in Texas. His son, William Brody, will try to follow his father’s steps, against his mom’s advice.
Supercell was written by director Herbert James Winterstern, and it’s not directly based on a true story. Winterstern dedicates the movie to his mom, implying that there is a personal experience behind the familiar dynamics we see around William Brody. When he was a young kid, James Winterstern lost his father, and since that moment, he has always considered him a hero. At the same time, his mom was always present, and years later, when she started suffering from Alzheimer’s, Winterstern developed a new perspective about his parents. The director explained everything in this interesting interview with Script Mag.
However, besides the family context, the movie Supercell and the storm chaser Bill Brody are inspired by all the professionals working in this field. One storm chaser, in particular, is remembered in the community for his tragic death in 2013: it was Tim Samaras, who died on May 31, while observing the 2013 El Reno tornado. Together with him, also his son Paul lost his life.
As Bill Brody in the movie Supercell, Tim Samaras was considered a legendary storm chaser. His activity was not only a passion: he intended to develop a measurement practice to help science better understand tornados. As this article on Smithsonian Mag explains, he was the man who measured the atmospheric pressure near a tornado, revealing precious information for the meteorological community.
When he died, Tim Samaras accepted the risk of being very close to a big tornado for the sake of his mission: he wanted to apply his measurements to a bigger storm, and that led to his death. The storm chaser Bill Brody from the movie Supercell is not explicitly inspired by him, but there is no doubt many of those who follow the art of storm cashing recalled Samaras’ death after watching the film.
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