Fantastic Fest ’11 Review: ‘KILL ME PLEASE’

Tackling a controversial subject can act as both a crutch for some filmmakers who are attempting to formulate a story based on shock only, or it can be a launching off pad for an interesting discussion.  Thankfully, Olias Barco approaches the subject of euthanasia in Kill Me Please in a thoughtful manner while also diverging (pretty regularly) down a dark black comedic road.  The result is both heartbreaking and hilarious, profound and preposterous, and stands as my favorite film of Fantastic Fest 2011 thus far.

Dr. Krueger runs the perfect institute for you to “enjoy” your final moments.  Although protestors are a regular problem outside the facility, inside you will find a peaceful environment where the doctor and his staff work patiently with you to discuss whether or not you are truly ready to die.  While Dr. Krueger doesn’t fully discourage the patients from drinking the deadly concoction that ends your life, he carefully makes sure that they are 100% ready. The meetings range from heartbreaking to darkly funny as the patients range from a troubled single man, a former musician, and other quirky characters.  This humorous approach to an extremely sensitive subject slowly builds until a surprising and unforgettable ending.

Director Olias Barco has crafted a complex examination of euthanasia that will long be remembered after its explosive finale.  Suddenly tragic moments are interrupted by laugh-out -loud clever quips about the pleasures of both life and death.  The script is bitingly funny but never gets to the point that it treats the characters as pawns or caricatures.  They have a heart-breaking humane side that makes you even more sympathetic to their tragic state.  Aurelien Recoing plays the mild-mannered Dr. Krueger as a quiet and stoic savior even when he is receiving such requests from his patients as, “I think I would like to be burned alive.” All of the aspects of this complex film come together perfectly to create a French “new wave” film drenched in bloody morbid humor.

While the subject matter will turn off some viewers, the masterful balance achieved between the comedy and tragedy will impress even the most offended cynics.  Throughout the film, you encounter numerous lost souls who have, for one reason or another, lost hope or direction in their lives.  Amid the sad faces and air of past tragic lives that once occupied the clinical setting lingers a funny but poignant message in a film that still retains a soul even after all of the deaths and loss.