EXIT: The Right to Die

One can't help but be moved by this introduction to the work of the EXIT organization in Switzerland, which provides volunteers to assist terminally-ill or severely handicapped persons who choose to commit suicide—which is perfectly legal under Swiss law. Fernand Melgar's serenely paced documentary EXIT: The Right to Die devotes some time to covering meetings of the small panel of “escorts” (as they call themselves), who discuss issues that arise in the course of their work in helping people decide whether to embrace “self-departure,” including the psychological toll of sitting with individuals they've come to know and cherish while the former drink the toxic liquid designed to bring a gentle release from pain. The film also visits an international conference of right-to-die organizations, and features—as a sort of running motif—phone conversations between EXIT's secretary and individuals who call requesting general information or assistance in scheduling a time for their suicides. But for the most part, the focus is on the interaction between the escorts and patients and families, captured here in scenes that are remarkably moving and often heart-wrenching (the film begins with a discussion between the leader of the volunteers and a woman named Micheline, who's determined to end her life rather than enter a nursing home, and closes with her actual death). While the ethical issues concerning assisted suicide or euthanasia are both abstract and complex, this poignant, thought-provoking film endows them with a powerful human dimension. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)