Veronika Decides to Die (2009)

An absolute winner is "Veronika Decides to Die", a 2009 independent film with at least five production companies in the credits. It is currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is Emily Young. The writers include Paulo Coelho (book) and Larry Gross(screenwriter). The cast includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jonathan Tucker, Erika Christensen, Florencia Lozano, Rena Owen, Erica Gimpel, Victo Slezak, Barbara Sukowa, Victor Steinbach, Melissa Leo, David Thewils, Virl Andrick, Jeff Applegate, Lisette Bross, Mathew Cowles, Jill Dalton, Meg Gibson, Holter Graham, Nicolette Hart, Ward Horton, Jessica Kaye and Amanda LaPergola. The story revolves around a young woman who is depressed to the point of suicide. She is told that she has but one week to live because the drugs she took to kill herself have induced an aneurysm of her heart. Her struggle is intriguing and I gave this short film 8 stars. Dale Haufrect

"All healthy men have thought of their own suicide." – Albert Camus"Veronika Decides to Die" stars actress Sarah Michelle Gellar as Veronika, a young woman who decides to die. Why does she decide to die? Because life, she thinks, sucks. Why does she eventually opt not to commit suicide? Because life, she realizes, is a gift worth living.Gellar turns in a very good performance, but the film's script is condescending. It does not trivialize suicide – director Emily Young treats Veronika's pain with sympathy – but trivializes the existential questions which provoked Veronika's turmoil. Namely, what constitutes a life worth living? Isn't Veronika's solution (sex with a hunky guy) just a temporary biological solution to a metaphysical problem? How does Veronika rationalize participating in a culture which she views as being immoral and rife with hypocrisy? If life's a gift, why can't it be refunded? Why is suicide seen as an individual problem and not a valid response to a social problem? Why is it the individual's responsibility to adapt and not society's responsibility to change? Ultimately, films like this deny any possibility of a social causation of mental illness, a stance which allows multinational pharmaceutical companies to peddle drugs which often trap their subjects in a cycle very similar to that which instigates their mental "illness" (in the film Veronika is not ill, but simply hyper aware). This myth of mental illness encourages us, moreover, to believe in its logical corollary: that social intercourse would be harmonious, satisfying, and the secure basis of a "good life" were it not for the disrupting influences of mental illness or "psychopathology." 7/10 – Worth one viewing.

Due to some positive commentaries I read about the film Veronika Decides to Die, I thought that I was finally going to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in a good film which would exploit her talent as an actress.Aside from the TV series Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, her talent has been wasted in many films, specially in The Grudge and Suburban Girl, where her characters were so poorly written that she could not make them credible.And even though Veronika Decides to Die ended up being a disappointment, Gellar could bring a performance which exhibits the emotional intensity and dramatic force she showed in the best episodes from Buffy, The Vampire Slayer.In summary, we are talking about a solid performance in a very mediocre movie.I am not a fan of author Paulo Coelho, nor I have read his book Veronika Decide Morrer (on which this film is based), but I appreciate the elegant prose and the honest narrative "voice" from his books (at least the ones I have read).So, I dare to speculate that the mentioned book must have been richer and more complex than this simplistic film adaptation, which is full of clichéd dialogs, pretentious "artistic" interludes and moral lessons which border the farce ("we are all crazy").Another problem are the looooong parts dedicated to superfluous characters who enlarge the story without contributing any content.They may were more relevant in the book, but in the film, they are one of the main things which make it boring.Besides, the ending from this movie is insipid.As I mentioned on the first paragraph, I liked Gellar's performance, and I think that David Thewlis also made a good work with his role, since he rescues his generic character with the conviction he shows.In the negative side from the cast, we have Jonathan Tucker, who is absolutely bland and listless in his character; in other words, I did not find him credible in his role for even one second.In conclusion, Veronika Decides to Die is a weak and mediocre movie whose good intentions were contaminated by a diffuse and frequently cloying screenplay which does not reach the dramatic levels it aspires to.Despite the performances from Gellar and Thewlis, I cannot recommend this movie, because I found it to be tedious and unsatisfactory.

OK , let's see ... after you watch this film you could decide what is better , the book or the film , well if somebody has not read the book , i will tell you read it because it is better than the film .... but film is not that bad , actually it is a really good film Lets talk about the performances , first we have to say that Sarah Michelle Gellar was wonderful , seriously she was shocking , she really got into the Veronika's skin , she showed a depressed girl with subtle gestures and strong dialogs ..... i always thought that she is underrated as an actress and i was right she is ... but i think that she is such a talented actress and i think that she deserves an Oscar for the performance that she did in this film . Melissa Leo was fabulous as usual .... Erika Christinsen was depressing and cute at the same time ..... David Thewil was good but not really impressive .... and Jonathan Tucker was a little insipid , i think he did not give everything what he had to give.Well , now maybe you are thinking , why does he say that the plot does not go any where ??? , well because in fact this is a short story , i mean that it does not have a lot to tale .... so i felt that the film prolongs a lot the end . But it has a beautiful messages : "live every moment in the best way possible" and "the life is a miracle so do not waste it" . And it is as a self-help film .Now we have to talk about the characters , well you can see how they grow up , and how they find their life purposes .... When i was watching i film i was really impressed of how they changed their personalities , they taught me that happiness can be everywhere , in every time , they inspired me .My conclusion is that it is a film that has to be seen , and that it is one of the best films of the year ..... it gives you a life lesson and it is the most wonderful thing of the whole film , it gave me a life lesson.