Mortality Movies can be sorted into many different topic areas. Some films cover multiple categories. Today’s list covers Gail Rubin’s recommendations for films related to medical treatment and end-of-life issues. Subscribe to her Substack column, Mortality Movies with The Doyenne of Death® to be kept up to date on new recommendations!
YouTube clips available online are also included, so you can get a feel for these Mortality Movies. If you want to get a DVD of the movie or stream it on Prime Video, click on the links in the titles. The links are Amazon Affiliate links, so you can help support Gail Rubin’s work with a tiny referral fee.
50/50 (2010 – R, 1hr. 40 min.)
Inspired by a true story, this comedy centers on a 27-year-old who learns of his cancer diagnosis, his subsequent struggle to beat the disease, and issues around family and dating. Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen as his best friend who tries to be helpful.
Blackbird (2019 – R, 1 hr. 37 min.)
Checking Out (2005 – PG-13, 1 hr. 34 min.)
Peter Falk is Morris Applebaum, an almost 90-year-old stage actor who has decided he’s lived long enough and plans to die by suicide, after gathering the family for his big birthday. This comedy can prompt conversations about medical aid-in-dying, quality of life and related issues.
Critical Care (1997 – R, 1hr. 47 min.)
James Spader stars as a hospital resident put in the middle of a legal battle between two half-sisters on whether to pull their comatose dad’s life support. Sidney Lumet directed this scathing comedy about medical care, insurance, and difficult decisions in the ICU.
The Descendants (2011 – R, 1 hr. 55 min.)
George Clooney plays a husband whose wife is on life support, wrestling with issues of keeping her alive and connecting with his two daughters. Shows the importance of advance medical directives, doctor-patient communications, and helping family and friends cope with a serious medical situation. Also brings up issues of legacy and inheritance, related to the family’s heritage in Hawaii.
The Doctor (1991 – PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.)
William Hurt stars as a self-centered heart surgeon who is diagnosed with throat cancer. As a patient, he becomes better able to empathize with his patients and appreciate life outside his career.
The End (1978 – R, 1 hr. 40 min.)
A slapstick comedy with Burt Reynolds playing a man told by a doctor he doesn’t have much longer to live. He makes multiple failed attempts at suicide and ponders life and death. Also stars Sally Field and Dom DeLuise.
The Fault in Our Stars (2014 – PG-13, 2 hr. 6 min.)
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015 – PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.)
This coming-of age-dark comedy focuses on high school student Greg, who makes parodies of classic movies with his friend Earl, befriends a female classmate who has been diagnosed with leukemia. A metaphor for how we process life and death through storytelling, and not your standard “cancer movie.”
The Savages (2007 – R, 1 hr. 53 min.)
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman play adult children estranged for 20 years from their father, who has developed dementia. They struggle to discuss his medical care, advance health directives and funeral plans in this comedy-drama.
The Shootist (1976 – PG, 1 hr. 40 min.)
John Wayne plays a gunslinger who copes with cancer, as Wayne was doing in this film, which was his last. The year is 1901. He rides into town looking to get a second opinion on a cancer diagnosis and spend his last days with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity. Jimmy Stewart plays the doctor who does his best to offer what limited care medicine offered at the time. He also makes his funeral arrangements with the undertaker played by John Carradine.
Still Alice (2014 – PG-13, 1 hr. 41 min.)
Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her performance as a linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. This film grapples with themes of loss of identity before physical death, anticipatory grief, end-of-life choices, and the burdens carried by caregivers.
Terms of Endearment (1983 – PG, 2hr. 12 min.)
A comedy/drama that focuses on the relationship between a mother and daughter. A cancer diagnosis steers the story into scenes that include pain management and opens discussion about medical care and mortality. Stars Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson. Won five Oscars in 1984, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
The Room Next Door (2024 – PG-13, 1 hr. 47 min.)
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton star in this drama about two friends who reunite as one is dying of cancer and wants medical aid in dying and the other is afraid of death.
Two Weeks (2006 – R, 1hr. 42 min.)
In this comedy/drama, four adult siblings gather at their dying mother’s house in North Carolina. Their time together shows the challenges for family caregivers when a loved one is on hospice care at home, end-of-life planning issues, and what can go wrong when scattering ashes in a cemetery. Sally Field stars as the mother.
Whose Life is It Anyway? (1981 – R, 1 hr. 59 min.)
Stars Richard Dreyfuss as Ken Harrison, a sculptor who is injured in a car accident, paralyzing him from the neck down. He’s still mentally competent and able to talk, and he tells the medical staff he wants to die. His case goes to a trial on the question of allowing him to die. A great conversation starter about quality of life and patient autonomy.
Wit (2001 – PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by Mike Nichols, Emma Thompson is a cancer patient in experimental treatment for Stage Four ovarian cancer. Funny and moving, this can help discussions of wishes for medical treatment and end-of-life care.
Got more Mortality Movies suggestions to add to this list? Comment on this post! And subscribe to @GailRubin on YouTube for more movie clips.
