By John Corrado

Director Ann Marie Fleming’s Can I Get a Witness? is set in a futuristic version of Canada, where the progressive government has mandated that everybody “voluntarily” gives up their life at the age of fifty for the sake of the planet.

It’s a chilling premise that makes for a mostly engaging if uneven film, as Fleming opts for an often understated exploration of this post-apocalyptic future. We learn that ecological disasters have ravaged the planet. This mandatory age limit is seen as a way to restore balance, with resources like water, electricity, and technology also being strictly controlled.

The film is mostly seen through the eyes of Kiah (Keira Jang), a teenaged girl who lives with her mother Ellie (Sandra Oh, in an emotional supporting turn). Kiah is an artist mandated to be one of the “witnesses” whose job is to observe people in their final moments, drawing sketches for posterity. She is paired up with Daniel (Joel Oulette), a young man who prepares people for their End of Life (or EOL) ceremonies.

Daniel is a “true believer” in the necessity of what they are doing; he explains that everybody has been made equal by each being allotted the same amount of time on earth, thus protecting precious natural resources. But Kiah has her doubts about what is plainly a morally horrific social program. They go door-to-door like salesman or travelling missionaries, handing out pamphlets and making arrangements for how people will spend their final moments. Fleming’s film is at its best in these scenes, showing their interactions with clients and how different people react to the end of their lives.

The film moves at a deliberate pace. At first, Fleming’s script doesn’t overwhelm us with details. She slowly fleshes out this world over the course of the first act, as Kiah learns more about the job that she has been conscripted to do. The film loses some momentum when it does start to offer more exposition in the second half. It can feel a bit heavy-handed. A group of supporting characters are introduced solely to explain things and offer more world-building.

The film also struggles tonally at times. We get the sense that the story still wants to work as emo teen romance, instead of fully grappling with the corrosiveness of the communist ideologies underlying this fictional government program. There are shades of Lois Lowry’s classic book The Giver, but the story doesn’t hit quite as hard.

Despite broadly being a work of speculative fiction that presents big, thought-provoking philosophical ideas, Can I Get a Witness? is actually strongest when exploring its concept through more intimate character moments. We see the planet starting to thrive again due to these “sacrifices” that people are required to make, but at what cost? Fleming’s film isn’t inherently political. But in a world of climate alarmism, and an increased push to expand access to medical assistance in dying, it almost feels like an eery and disturbing snapshot of a possible dystopian future.

If Fleming’s film is tinged with an underlying sadness, there is still beauty in Brent Belke’s gentle musical score, and the lovely cinematography by C. Kim Miles. It was shot in BC’s Powell River, which provides a picturesque backdrop. Fleming also incorporates in some nice animated elements, as Kiah’s drawings come to life and leap off the page.

Film Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)

Can I Get a Witness? opens exclusively in theatres in limited release on March 14th, including at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto. It’s being distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media.