Dusky Alice Vikander and a deadly pale Eva Green play estranged sisters who are somewhat uncomfortably reunited at an isolated, picturesque resort in some lush european idyll, a seemingly genteel environment wherein the well-to-do terminally sick are sensitively given the freedom to facilitate their own death in this conspicuously new-agey, spa-like environment. Acclaimed Writer/director Lisa Langseth's earnest, handsomely shot drama deals tastefully with a contentious theme that evocatively translates into austere, contemplative, if not consistently gripping cinema.
There's a curiously detached quality to the film-making, as though coolly observing the final anxious days of the desperately ailing Emilie (Eva Green) from afar, but the acting is of a high standard, and there are a number of earthy, well-written exchanges between the grieved, antagonistic sisters which rang true, and the always wonderful, preternaturally graceful Charlotte Rampling effortlessly expresses her inimitable gravitas. To be blunt, talky, introspective films about the weighty emotional complexities of assisted suicide are, by definition, going to be a niche affair, but I sincerely applaud Langseth for making it, and the final fragile moments of Emilie's bespoke 'leaving' was certainly impactful.
