Suicide Tourist - There is no escape

The tranquil life of insurance agent Max (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) at the side of his wife Lærke (Tuva Novotny) is abruptly shattered when he learns that he is suffering from an incurable brain tumor. His attempts to take his own life, however, fail miserably. Then the wife of a supposedly dead client contacts him. As the only evidence of his death, she has obtained a video, recorded in Aurora Hotel - a luxury hotel that carries out planned and assisted suicides. Due in no small part to his personal situation, the hotel holds an intriguing attraction for Max and he decides to go there to investigate his client's case. But once you've checked into the Aurora Hotel, there's no turning back.

Suicide Tourist - There's No Escape tells what is, at its core, a really interesting story. Especially at the beginning, the concept of the hotel alone raises some interesting ethical questions. In addition, there are scenes - such as one between Max and a younger guest at the Aurora Hotel - that really get to the heart. In his second feature film, director Jonas Alexander Arnby succeeds in establishing a mysterious and dark atmosphere right from the start, which unfolds well in the sometimes somewhat too dark images. And with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, a leading actor has been found who, at the latest since Game of Thrones, also has international drawing power.

In this respect, Arnby has done a lot right. Still, the film only succeeds to a limited extent in really sweeping its audience along. This is partly because Arnby fails to really address the issue of assisted suicide. This aspect of the story, which is so important, remains too superficial, which denies the film any dramatic depth, but also, in a way, credibility. Instead, the mise-en-scène gets bogged down in long takes and convoluted storytelling, which has a certain charm at the beginning but then becomes increasingly confusing. Sure, this does a good job of portraying Max's state of mind as he becomes increasingly doubtful of what is happening around him. But it's not really exciting, unfortunately.

Suicide Tourist - There's No Escape is neither explosive character study, nor gripping mystery thriller, unfortunately. Rather, Jonas Alexander Arnby's drama lies somewhere in between with its surreal elements. It has intriguing moments, but overall falls far short of its potential - especially when it comes to dealing with the issue of euthanasia. Those who liked Arnby's first film When Animals dream might also enjoy this surreal mystery puzzle. But for everyone else: Only worth seeing with restrictions!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp