What does it mean to die well? What is friendship in the face of death? When Muis learns that she has terminal lung cancer, she gathers her three closest friends around her – Ted, Carlos and Lina – to live out the remaining time in the best-possible way. The friends now do everything together: gardening, dancing, smoking dope and going on road trips to wonderful places out in the countryside. They talk about every topic imaginable, including how to proceed when Muis has died – or how not to proceed. Not only that: they even rehearse the funeral by taking a lie down test in identical coffins. As each of the four women develops her own strategy and attitude towards the imminent loss, the cards are newly mixed. What begins as a linear story is shaken to its roots.

Mijke de Jong’s new movie is a radical mix of documentary and fiction, the starting point being the news of her friend and actress Leonoor Pauw’s mortal illness. Until her death in 2013, Ms Pauw herself played the character of Muis.
A courageous and moving film that challenges classic narrative forms.

German premiere