Off Netflix Streaming 6/7/14.
WARNING: SPOILER
WARNING: Not fully viewed.
Ok, so I wrote this huge review for this film after stopping partway through due to moral concerns…and then I found out that it’s not real, as it pretends to be.
It’s people shown filming other people, but they’re all actors. Subject of fiction: someone wanting to film someone suicidal up to the point of suicide.
So, if you want to discuss the subject of suicide/assisted suicide, the ethics surrounding it, etc…why not just discuss the subject?
Why does ANYONE need to see a group of (fake) people (that is, these people are all acting, to a SCRIPT) go through the obvious moral questions/concerns/dilemmas?
Unless you get off on the dark voyeurism of the whole thing – even though it’s fake – there really is no point, other than to be spurred into thinking about a subject that either a) doesn’t affect you anyway or b) has already occurred to you without prodding.
Note: I stopped when I was unsure if the portrayed-as-real filmmaker interviewed two little girls, one of whom said she wanted to be the subject of the film. I started again once he revealed he called Social Services. I stopped again when I realized it was all fake.
I suppose the argument is they had to pretend it was real to evoke real, strong emotions and reactions from viewers. And it did succeed there.
And I did find myself asking…why WOULD you have watched it if it was real, but NOT continue watching knowing it was fake?
That’s an interesting question. I can say with certainty that I was rooting for the subject, whoever it may have been, to NOT go through with it. I was hoping for a realistic (as I thought it was real) story of someone who feels they want to kill themself, but gradually realizes that life (despite how horrible it sometimes can be) is worth living. I wanted a voyeuristically POSITIVE result, as I believe this to be the case. Finding out it was fake made it much less interesting…probably because it would require GREAT acting (which I hadn’t seen so far and wasn’t expecting), whereas if it had been REAL, there would be no “acting”…so it would seem real, because it WAS.
So I’m disappointed and a bit frustrated, because it would have been heartwarming to see someone realize that – despite how horrible your life may seem – it’s worth living…to never give up hope.
Grade: D-
6/3/14: Why didn’t I finish this movie, you may ask. Laziness? Fear? I just can’t bear to deal with the emotions involved? No, no, and no. For anyone that has any experience with extreme depression and/or suicidal ideation, it’s simply not necessary. Their (and my) real ruminations are infinitely preferable to someone else’s fake ones.
If you have no experience at all with aforementioned subjects, you may find this extremely intriguing. In that case, up it to a C- from what I saw before stopping, with possibility for a great rise or fall depending on the rest.
For anyone (like me) who has been in such a position and has decided, emphatically, that life IS worth living, and that suicide is NOT an option, it would be redundant at best.
I’ll take my own genuine realizations and revelations, thank you very much. Grade: D-