Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Filmed and edited in intimate vérité style, this movie follows visionary medical practitioners who are working on the cutting edge of life and death and are dedicated to changing our thinking about both.
End Game is a competent and compassionate documentary short following palliative care physicians navigating end-of-life conversations. The vérité approach feels earnest and intimate, though the subject matter has been explored in similar docs before. The lack of a strong narrative arc or revelatory conclusion keeps both Plot and Ending from standing out, and the cinematography, while adequate, rarely transcends functional coverage. Acting is not applicable in the traditional sense but the real subjects—doctors and patients—are compelling human presences. Novelty is moderate; the medical setting and themes are familiar territory for documentary filmmaking, though the specific focus on palliative care philosophy gives it some distinctiveness.