Choosing the time and place you’d like to die is either an affront to nature and allowing the human body to decline as it was designed to, or the next step in mankind’s relationship to their bodies. However, while writer/director Lisa Langseth’s (“Pure,” “Hotel“) English language debut “Euphoria” is entirely centered around the act of euthanasia, the film isn’t concerned with debating the issue. Instead, her picture explores the impact it has on those who will be left behind, and the journey in finding closure with those close to you as death looms.
When artist Ines (Alicia Vikander) reconnects with her sister Emilie (Eva Green), from whom she’s been estranged, she’s under the impression the pair will spend some time holidaying and reestablishing the bonds that have been broken between them. Emilie has a surprise, however, whisking the duo away to what appears to be a luxury resort nestled deep in the woods. Instead, it’s a posh medical clinic, where Emilie reveals to Ines that she’s suffering from terminal cancer, and it’s where she’s come to make peace with her sister before she ends her life on her terms. Ines reacts with an understandable mix of emotions, ranging from fury at having this sprung on her, to concerns about her sister’s health. There’s plenty to mine here, but Langseth chooses the most conventional dramatic path.
The bulk of “Euphoria” follows the at odds sisters through an endless cycle of fights, reconciliation, misunderstandings, and clearing their air. Even two great actresses like Vikander and Green can’t make the repetitive structure of the film, or the ultimately bland backstory of their characters, any more engaging. Perhaps most disappointing is that “Euphoria” leaves its most interesting element unexplored. It’s revealed that among the services offered at the clinic is a social media consultant, who will go through your online history and modify anything you don’t like or create something you’d prefer to appear in association with your online profiles. The idea of being able to write your own legacy and history is fascinating and could’ve even provided a terrific narrative anchor to the film, by having Emilie explore the life she’s leaving behind digitally, and considering how she’d want to be remembered. Unfortunately, this opportunity to bring a modern touch to the proceedings is left untapped.
For the most part, “Euphoria” unfolds with the expected sibling bouts, with the occasional refereeing by Marina (Charlotte Rampling), a caretaker at the facility, who is Emilie’s personal guide through the entire process. Briefly bringing some personality and a necessary light touch to the picture is Charles Dance, who is essentially playing Bill Nighy from “Love, Actually,” a living out loud man in his ‘60s with piles of money, who plans a particularly splashy party before his own sendoff. Meanwhile, Emilie strikes up a friendship with Brian (Mark Stanley), a gravely depressed paraplegic, who is searching for some kind of light in his personal darkness. These subplots serve as a brief reprieve from the central storyline, but only offer the most surface level insight to picture’s ruminations on death.
There’s no clear, cozy resolution for Ines and Emilie and that might be the most truthful aspect of “Euphoria,” but it’s a lesson that’s not particularly enlightening either. For a film that literally isolates its characters from the rest of the world to confront each other head-on, the drama plays more conventional than challenging. “Euphoria” faces death in the most beautiful surroundings possible, but the reality is that for most of us, the end will be far less comfortable. [C]
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