Josh Duhamel Famke Janssen Giancarlo Esposito Caitlin Esposito Sarah Wayne Callies
The plot of This
is Your Death is set on a topic that is both intriguing and
horrifying—unconscionable, some would say. The intriguing part is related to the issue of a person’s
right to choose their own death, which has advocates for both pros and
cons. The horrifying aspect is a
TV reality show setting with an audience to hear the person’s back story and
witness the suicide itself. The
acceptability of this practice is rationalized by explicitly identifying
someone—like a child—who will benefit from donations made in the person’s
name. And these come in by the
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This idea is conceived by Adam Rogers (Duhamel)
who was host of a previous reality show in which a tragedy occurred. He expresses his guilt about that show,
which he felt responsible for, in that he was “pitting two women against each
other like dogs.” He convinces his
producers and managers of the charitable benefits that he says will justify the
new show, saying that it is not a death show, but “life affirming”. His
arguments reveal a kind of “skewed morality” that smack of truth, but are
really flawed. Of course, the
studio brings in attorneys to assure they are above the law, and it has a
physician on site who will verify that the person is in their right mind. It’s a requirement, of course, that the
person complete the act on their own.
They can choose the means by which they do it.
Among those we meet are a woman abused by her
husband who wants to be sure her daughter will be well cared for; a man who is
terminally ill; a woman who wants the donations to go to refugees; a man whose
wife needs a heart transplant, which he can’t afford; and a hard working older
man who keeps getting fired and cannot get another job. He wants to help his wife and two
children, one of which is on crutches.
We witness mixed audience reactions, but the donations pour in, and Adam
has to keep upping the stakes.
As time goes on, we see the binds that develop
for Adam and the producers to keep the show a hit and deal with unanticipated
problems. Moral outrage increases,
and Adam develops a reputation as “the televangelist of death.” One woman highly outraged from the
beginning is his sister Karina (Callies), an oncology nurse on a pediatrics
unit, where everyone knows Adam is her brother.
The film starts out being interesting in
highlighting the reasons people want to participate, but misses the opportunity
to explore the topical subject of suicide, shifting instead to Adam’s
increasing problems in keeping the show ratings up and his obsession with his
career and popularity. As it
becomes more unrealistic and sensational, This
is Your Death loses its appeal and becomes just another TV reality show.
Director Giancarlo Esposito’s career has been
primarily as a television actor, and he plays a strong role as one of the
characters wanting to help his family.
Duhamel, Callies, Janssen, and the other actors do a creditable job in
portraying the conflicts inherent in such a rather outlandish production.
A sometimes shocking story about a
bizarre television reality show.
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