Dramatisation of the later life and death of Dr Anne Turner, a British GP who made the decision to end her own life at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich after being diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.
Provides examples of:
- Baby Of The Bunch: Jessica is the youngest of Anne's children and has the hardest time accepting Anne's illness.
- Born Unlucky: Anne's husband suffered from and eventually died as a result of Multiple System Atrophy, which left him unable to walk or speak. Anne's colleague Richard says that the odds of two non-biologically-related members of the same family suffering from different terminal neurological illnesses are astronomical.
- Culturally Religious: Anne and her family never discuss religion explicitly. Just before Anne dies, the kids sing a bit of the Anglican hymn "Glory to Thee, My God, This Night".
- Dead Man Writing: Anne writes a letter to her family and friends who didn't know about her assisted suicide to be shared after her death. She also records an interview with a television crew which she asks them not to broadcast while she's still alive.
- Driven to Suicide: Anne declares her intention to kill herself as soon as she tells her children about her diagnosis. Initially they're horrified, but after she attempts to kill herself while alone in her house they eventually come around to supporting her decision.
- Foul Medicine: Anne knows in advance that the barbiturate she'll need to take will be extremely bitter, and it is does prove difficult for her to swallow in one go.
- Suicide is Shameful: Clare accuses Anne of being selfish for wanting to take her own life.
- Take Care of the Kids: Anne tells her children in her final goodbye to look after each other.
- There Should Be a Law: Inverted. The film explicitly advocates for changing the law to decriminalise assisted suicide in Britain. The fact that Anne has to keep the trip to Switzerland a secret means that her children are the only people she's able to say goodbye to in person.
- Undying Loyalty: Although Sophie and Jessica are initially more conflicted about it than Edward, all three of them help Anne to organise her trip to Switzerland and accompany her to Dignitas even though they run the risk of being prosecuted in Britain as a result.
