Matthias Glasner’s epic thanatopsis, his first cinematic effort since 2012’s Mercy, is sweeping in its scope but finely textured in its telling. Dying was this year’s Best Picture at the 2024 German Film Awards and was awarded the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival. Lars Eidinger (Everyone Else, White Noise) leads a collection of high-caliber dramatic performances in this story about the estranged Lunies family. Father Gerd is suffering from dementia and Mother Lissy’s health is starting to rapidly decline as well. Meanwhile, son Tom, a classical composer, is desperately trying to realize his orchestral masterpiece—titled “Dying”—and daughter Ellen is dealing with addiction and her own personal crises. Told in five overlapping chapters, Glasner’s depiction of the indignities of aging, the fallout for those close to the infirmed, and the ways that family dynamics suddenly invert is intensely relatable and harrowing. Dying is a film that is unflinching in its depiction of grief and regret, but also imbued with humor, heart, and undeniable humanity. It’s also not afraid to indulge its operatic emotional peaks and major-key reflexivity, making this movie about the inevitable feel very much alive. ~OO