Mark Reviews Movies: EUPHORIA

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 27, 2019

There's some potential to the premise of writer/director Lisa Langseth's Euphoria, in which a terminally ill woman decides to reach the end of her life on her own terms. All of the questions, the fears, the uncertainty, and the hopes surrounding death and knowing when it will come, though, are dismissed almost immediately. Instead, the movie finds ways to inject superficial, artificial conflict into what could be a thoughtful examination of any one of the multiple angles of its setup.

The dying woman is Emilie (Eva Green), who has suggested a vacation with her sister Ines (Alicia Vikander). The truth, though, is that she has cancer, which has spread through her entire body, and has arranged a stay at an exclusive resort of sorts, where a quiet and peaceful death awaits at the end of six days.

Issues—between the characters and with the narrative itself—begin quickly. Emilie has kept her illness a secret from Ines, who only discovers it upon arriving at the vast estate—and from Emilie's counselor Marina (Charlotte Rampling), not Emilie herself.

The arguing between the sisters begins immediately and does not abate until Emilie's final moments. Ines is understandably upset that her sister would keep such significant news from her until it is essentially too late. Emilie is angry that her sister, a professional photographer, has been inattentive for years to her and, previously, their now-late mother, who committed suicide under Emilie's care and while Ines was away.

Every step forward in repairing the relationship results in regressive steps, because neither sister seems able or willing to forgive or forget perceived transgressions now or from the past. Under the circumstances, this constant conflict feels inauthentic. While the two women bicker or actually come to blows (There's an unfortunate scene in which Emilie almost dies from the sisterly fighting), Langseth introduces other characters waiting for death—most notably Mr. Daren (Charles Dance), who seems at peace with the inevitable until the actual moment arrives.

If the ideas behind the premise of Euphoria are disregarded, so, too, is Emilie herself. She strangely becomes a supporting player in the tale of her own decision and coming to terms with death, as Ines' struggle with emotional constipation takes over the bulk of the story. Like so much of this movie, that shift in focus entirely misses the point.

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