Disappointed in Two Movies: “Shape of Water” and “Breathe”

We see some of our best and worst movies while flying in airplanes back-and-forth across the Atlantic. Today we saw one of our dumbest movies which started out intriguing but we both said it’s on the lower end of all the movies we’ve watched.

It was called “The Shape of Water“. It was about a Man-like sea creature (humanoid amphibian) taken into captivity. A number of times it was discussed whether this amphibious creature was a god and it did have powers of healing..

A woman befriends it and helps it escape from a government laboratory. She falls in love with it (him). They even have sexual relations before the ending where the end up in the ocean where she grows gills and they live happily ever after together below the sea.

But the movie I mainly wanted to discuss was “Breathe” which is a tragic polio case based on the actual life of a Britishman named Robin Cavendish (played by Andrew Garfield). His wife (played by Claire Foy) loves him deeply and devoted her life to his surviving and living his life to the fullest possible. Together they help other handicapped people and invent machines and chairs to help others who are incapacitated.

Two-thirds through the movie I pushed pause and wrote to a couple of good friends the following, “We are flying home on Delta — watching one of the best movies ever. Human dignity, funny, Catholic, sad and happy, inspiring —essentially human and a beautiful example of love, devotion and family.“

But is soon as I pushed “play” again my wife and I (watching it together as we always do on planes) realized this movie was taking a turn for the worst. He decided he would end his life after many courageous and exemplary years of helping other people, loving his wife and son, and traveling even with his disability.

He decides it’s time to die because he doesn’t want to die naturally in front of his wife and his older son. There’s a big party with all of his friends and family to celebrate his choice where they tell him upgrade to see is to end his own life. After he sends everybody away he dies by lethal injection. It was a hugely disappointing end to what could’ve been a beautiful story.

Even though it claims to be based on a real story and that the actual man was an atheist, I could not confirm that he actually took his own life in real life. But that’s maybe because I’m still on the plane with limited resources.

I wrote back to my friends immediately the following, “Opps! Looks like I spoke too soon. I sent the e-mail 2/3rds of the way into the movie when Janet and I had tears in our eyes because of the beauty of the relationship And the family supporting and helping him. It could have been such a great movie.

“But in the end he decides to kill himself and his wife who has loved him all through and been there in love with him accepts this and they help him kill him self. What a disaster!

Could’ve been such a beautiful movie as it was 2/3 of the way through — but the end turns into an emotional apologetic for euthanasia or suicide. Rats! Double rats!”

Catholic Answers just posted a wonderful, theological and Catholic view of “end-of-life issues.” You can read it here.