Can I Get a Witness

It's a post-apocalyptic drama set in British Columbia over several days in about 2040 after a 2025 worldwide disaster. The apocalypse left the world in a non-digital, marginal electricity-powered society with exceptionally restricted travel. However, there is food for all, minimal conflict, and strict limitations on natural resource usage. There is also a limit to the length of life. Ellie (Sandra Oh) is the mother of Kiah (Keira Jang). Ellie remembers "before" the apocalypse; Kiah is starting her role as an "end of life" witness. Her more experienced co-worker is Daniel (Joel Oulette). The film follows their activities over several days as they visit clients.

"Can I Get a Witness?" describes itself as a fable and uses some reasonably pointless animation to underscore that concept. The story is creative and takes some decent swings at several examples of responses to the reformed society's requirements. The cinematography that emphasizes nature makes the film almost a satire, but it's not that either. I'm not sure it finally found a solid message to deliver.

This movie explores the theme of planet sustainability - if all humans are suddenly required by law to stop their life at 50, and stop using all electronics, then Earth can restore its resources and future generations can live without hunger, war, etc. The two main characters in the movie are the witnesses who go to people aged 50 at designated times to witness this agreement being fulfilled. I'll talk about the drawbacks of this movie first, and then mention a couple things I thought it did well.

The idea is interesting, and it starts off with some light world-building. It eases you into the concept gently. Bit by bit you learn what happens. I was really curious to see where it goes and what other themes in this concept it explores.

Unfortunately, it very quickly fell flat for me. Despite introducing a great idea, and the roles of the two people, it didn't dive deep into anything within it at all. It barely covered the basic things an average viewer would wonder when being introduced to such an idea. The concept stayed surface-level the whole time. There were no complications or intricacies with what this would mean, no drawbacks (aside from maybe one), just the immediate idea itself, and everything felt scripted and inorganic.

What's more, there was more 'telling' than 'showing'. The concept was reiterated verbally throughout the movie, and it got a bit tedious to constantly listen to the reasoning: 'it's for our planet!'. After a while, it felt more like a movie for hippies, rather than for the general public who could benefit from being encouraged to reflect on the state of our planet. I would have loved to get visual examples of how certain things could have gone wrong, or what they were alluding to when they kept saying 'it's for the planet'. It just wasn't clear. When I finished the movie, it didn't leave me with anything to really ponder, and neither did I feel like I learned anything.

The acting, unfortunately, wasn't good. I felt like I was watching a high school drama recital. And this is where the director should have been stricter on the directing part - sure, it's likely frustrating to work with someone who insists on 17 takes per shot, but the end result is usually so seamless, that people forget they're watching a movie. Here, I was constantly reminded that I'm watching some actors reciting the lines that they've recently rehearsed. The only person who really pulled through and looked and sounded natural was Sandra Oh, and she's a seasoned actress. Hopefully, the director feels more comfortable in her directing role in the future and really works with the actor for each scene until they manage to bring their lines to life.

The visuals were stunning! I'm not sure they fit the theme, because they felt a bit misplaced at times, but it was a unique touch that gave the movie some character.

The sounds was beautiful. There were a few breathtaking scenes with, ironically, the stillness of sound. It was suddenly so silent, that the whole cinema held their breath and just watched as everything stood still. Then once the sound returned, everyone went back to breathing normally. It was great.

All in all, the movie pulls a 6 because of its beautiful sound design, use of light with hopeful tones, and fairly new concept that I haven't seen often in movies. Though it would have been higher if the other points I mentioned can be improved, I was happy to have watched it.

Successfully vanquishing global ills like environmental degradation, economic inequality, insufficient health care and armed conflict in order to purposely create an earthly paradise is undeniably an ambitious and virtuous goal. And, thanks to the adoption of the principles outlined in the Universal Constitution of Human Rights and Responsibilities, the world of the near future has managed to make this dream a reality. Humanity's deliberate abandonment of its suffocatingly toxic ways and their devastating impact on the planet has enabled the establishment of an existence based on fairness, equality, sustainability and the guaranteed fulfillment of basic needs. But there's a trade-off for this new way of life - individuals must willingly agree to live only to age 50, at which time they undergo an EoL (End of Life) ceremony of their choosing. It's a rite of passage that evokes mixed reactions: many might seem reconciled to it outwardly, but is that how they truly feel about it on the inside? Indeed, is turning in one's life while still in its prime an acceptably conscionable practice? On top of this, to ensure compliance with this universally sanctioned policy, authorities have established official protocols for transitioning individuals to follow, including agreeing to the presence of designated EoL witnesses to artistically document their passage, a type of work similar to that of courtroom sketch artists. But is the establishment of such a seemingly utopian reality ultimately worth it given the cost involved? One might argue that social dogma like the kind depicted here is simply too high a price to pay for what amounts to a truncated life in exchange for a few years of idyllic bliss. As a result, competing themes related to social stewardship and personal sovereignty come into discreet conflict. These notions are primarily explored through the experiences of a talented and sensitive apprentice EoL documenter, Kiah (Keira Jang), who's learning the ropes of her job while wrestling with her feelings about it under the mentorship of her witnessing partner, Daniel (Joel Oulette), a consummate, albeit detached practitioner who goes about his tasks with perfunctory efficiency, never questioning the validity of this policy or his suitability for his calling. Kiah soon finds herself questioning the nature of the EoL protocol, both in principle and personally, given that her mother, Ellie (Sandra Oh), a onetime EoL witness herself, is approaching her own 50th birthday. Under conditions like these, will convention prevail? Writer-director Ann Marie Fleming's insightful, intriguing offering gives viewers much to contemplate from both sides of a loaded coin minted from decidedly conflicting viewpoints, some of which arguably could be seen as heretical in the face of outlooks typically looked upon as unquestionably noble and incontestably honorable. But are they really? Indeed, for example, would most 49-year-old idealists honestly live up to the personal magnanimity they profess to embrace when confronted with circumstances like these? The film examines these themes through a captivating, deftly nuanced narrative that explores its subjects from a variety of angles, clothed in a stunningly gorgeous, skillfully blended palette of vibrant cinematography and inventive complementary animation. And this package is topped off with a fine ensemble headlined by yet another stellar performance from Sandra Oh. Admittedly, a few sequences are a little stretched out, and some viewers might find the ending a tad abrupt. But, considering everything this release has to say - particularly in its willingness to quietly but courageously raise issues that are seldom discussed on screen - "Can I Get a Witness?" thoughtfully covers ample ground rarely seen, matters that we might all have to face on multiple fronts one way or another someday.

There is no Utopia without some Dystopia...what compromises would we make to make the world a better place?

I am old, so I would sign up!

The movie is gentle and paced a bit slow, fine with me as there were no trams, trains, airplanes, phones ringing..... Acting quality was great and appropriate to the theme. The cinematography exceptional. Whoa, I want to visit Powell River! The deer in the forest, the flowers in the gardens, the beach on seashore...and people on bikes and skateboards. Is that not real life on the Sunshine Coast?

Some delicate editing and it would get a higher score from me. Watched it in Salmon Arm, BC.

Imagine back in the summer of love, if the tree loving hippies got their protesting ways and the world decided to eschew economical greed in order to save mother earth. No one is tethered to their phones, folks get around on bicycles, nature is blooming everywhere one looks, oh, and you can only live to fifty. So there's that.

Look, we all know euthanasia is the cure for all our ills, just say oh yeah to the Kool Aid.

"Can I Get a Witness" imagines this not so distant future, in a seemingly idyllic society, where people talk, hang out, draw, and die. They also draw the dying. That's just one of the quirks permeating this movie: youngsters are conscripted to sketch the final moments of volunteer deathers. It is a odd production, involving the presentation of a very untechnical wooden box that, when opened, wafts a purple gas a la the campy Batman television series. Except this is all serious. Everyone is serious. Way too serious. If the future is this unfun, then why bother? Seems like a lot of sacrifice for green boredom.

The calamity that lead to this rash point in history is never fully explained, nor the fact that everyone seems on board with the program. Bet there would be some uppity 49 year olds with other radical ideas.

Some big topics are tackled here - the persevering goodness of humanity, the wonder of personal connection, the meaning of life, the youth of youth, the preservation of natural resources, the guilty pleasure of a refrigerator - but it feels a little too flighty to get worked up about (the added animation doesn't help). And to get to this stage of climate calming, people have to really get worked up.

Nice try though.

• hipCRANK.