Directed by: Ann Marie Fleming
Cast: Keira Jang, Joel Oulette, Sandra Oh
Climate change remains humanity’s most pertinent existential threat today. Among the innumerable social, economic, and political crises fighting for our collective attention, people recommend ignoring the climate crisis headlines the most because, well, what will you do about it? There are always more wildfires and floods of varying severity and location. Just stop doom-scrolling. You took grade 10 science and understand how greenhouse gases work. You know that Starbucks’ paper straws will not undo the damage we have done to the planet. I almost called it our planet there but rejected humanity’s ownership. The question remains: how can individuals actively respond to those terrifying headlines?
Canadian writer/director Ann Marie Fleming’s hopeful coming-of-age drama Can I Get a Witness? imagines a post-climate crisis world where individuals voluntarily end their lives at age 50 to preserve an environmental equilibrium alongside strict water, transportation, and electricity restrictions. Young adults called witnesses are responsible for delivering lethal gas to midlifers in a ceremony to their specifications while artistically capturing their final moments. We follow art prodigy Kiah, wonderfully played by Keira Jang, as she takes the witness role beside nonchalant mentor Daniel (Joel Oulette). The plot follows the pair delivering consensual death to husbands, wives, and parents. Some are more cooperative than others, sourcing the film’s dark comedy. Sandra Oh delivers a tearjerking performance as Kiah’s mother, Ellie, on her final days.
Technically, the film is stunning, particularly the symbolic animation implementation into live action. All the gorgeous nature shots evoked melancholic feelings for what we destroy daily. The music hits all the right notes throughout, synthesizing utopia and dystopia. The Ink Spots’ “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” plays several times—the lyrics reflecting humanity’s change of heart. Watching the film’s world premiere at TIFF Lightbox was a delight as the heartbeat sound effects through the immersive speaker system sold each death.
The film mainly introduces the world’s new rules naturally instead of through exposition. Don’t you love it when filmmakers respect your attention span? I wanted to learn more about those who outright reject the midlife death rule. A standout intense scene involved one uncooperative midlifer. Police who never appear on screen handle them. The writer/director Fleming could have taken many angles on this subject, but she chose hope, which is commendable when pessimism about the future is low-hanging fruit. During the post-screening Q&A, Fleming said watching this film made her feel more comfortable with death. A tender coming-of-age story was a great way to leave hope for the future—seeing police brutality would not help. Fleming also smartly said less is more. Explaining and showing more of how this world developed would have been bloated. Inviting viewers to use their imaginations was a great artistic choice.
Can I Get a Witness? accomplishes what it set out to do. I left sobbing for the characters and the “death is natural” message. Knowing that the future utopia came from our current dystopia got me. I highly recommend this movie whether or not you worry about climate change. We need a little hope from our media. I doubt Fleming, age 62, suggests we start gassing real midlifers. What would we ever do without our politicians? Killing the internet seems like an excellent place to start, though. Stop doom-scrolling and live like you'll die at 50 for the betterment of humanity.
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