Having won an award at the Venice film festival for his pro-euthanasia film, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is now calling for the legalisation of euthanasia worldwide and for those who disagree to keep quiet.
Almodóvar’sfilm The Room Next Door tells the story of a woman with cancer, played by British actress Tilda Swinton, who decides to take her own life and is supported in doing so by an old friend and author, played by Julianne Moore.
After receiving the Venice Golden Lion award in Venice, Almodóvarargued for universal access to euthanasia saying “There should be the possibility to have euthanasia all over the world. It should be regulated and a doctor should be allowed to help his patient”.
Euthanasia for all
In the film, Swinton’s character Martha , enlists the help of an old friend, Ingrid, as they go on a country break. At the end of their break together, as Ingrid watches on from ‘the room next door’, Martha ends her life by ingesting a lethal substance, which she has illegally purchased.
Speaking at a press conference at the Venice film festival, Almodóvar said that his film is “in favour of euthanasia” adding: “It is something we admire about the character of Tilda, she decides that getting rid of cancer can only be done by making the decision she actually makes”.
After receiving his award for the film, Almodóvar went on record as saying that he believes euthanasia is a “fundamental right” and he also called for those who disagreed to keep quiet saying “I would ask practitioners of any creed to respect and not intervene in individual decisions in this regard”.
Euthanasia in film
While Almodóvar is explicit about his support for euthanasia and his film’s promotion of the practice, his is not the first to consider the topic. The 2023 Japanese film Plan 75 imagines a Japan in which state-sponsored euthanasia is encouraged for all Japanese citizens over the age of 75 so that they might avoid ‘being a burden’ on the rest of the society.
The director, Chie Hayakawa, described the film as “too real to be sci-fi”. When the film was released in Japan, many commentators online expressed their support for the idea and suggested that this sort of scheme was precisely what Japan needed.
Almodóvar’s calls for euthanasia to be legalised have been realised in certain places around the world. According to the latest report on assisted suicide and euthanasia from Health Canada, up to 2022, 44,958 people have ended their lives by assisted suicide or euthanasia in Canada since legislation making it legal was passed in 2016. 17.1% cited loneliness as their reason for wanting to end their lives, while 35.3% were concerned about being a “burden on family, friends or caregivers”.
The state of Oregon had the highest number of assisted suicides in 2023 since the practice began in 1998. Almost half (43.3%) of those who ended their lives reported being concerned about being a “[b]urden on family, friends/caregivers”.
Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said “Almodóvar’s assertion that euthanasia is a ‘fundamental right’ is as dangerous and it is misguided. So too is his demand that those who disagree with him on this important matter keep quiet.. The lived reality of people in Oregon and Canada, where many have cited being a burden on family and friends as reasons for ending their lives through assisted suicide, should act as a warning sign for those wishing to introduce assisted suicide laws anywhere in the world – including the UK and Ireland”.
“People should be supported in finding better ways to live and care for those in need – not suggesting ways to die”.
