De goede dood

‘Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, my father will die.’ This is the opening line of this euthanasia drama adapted from the successful play by Wannie de Wijn, who debuts as a movie director. The events transpire around the final day and morning of the terminally ill Bernard, who for the occasion has surrounded himself with estranged relatives - including an egocentric and a retarded brother. Music is played, champagne is drunk, but there is also confusion and old sores. On the last evening they go through together, they sing, laugh and cry. Doubts and dilemmas prevail, while they are painfully aware that Bernard will soon be gone. De Wijn wants to show the ultimate consequence of the engineered society. We want to control life and death with our minds, but our souls are not ready yet.