BERLIN (Reuters) – The Berlin Film Festival competition film “Hot Milk” does not shy away from posing a choice between life and death, and viewers will come away with different conclusions based on its ending, said British director Rebecca Lenkiewicz on Friday.
“Hot Milk” stars Emma Mackey, of TV series “Sex Education”, as Sofia, who is staying on the Spanish coast with her mother, Rose, played by Fiona Shaw of the “Harry Potter” films.
Rose must use a wheelchair due to an unexplained illness, and while she seeks an answer at a clinic in Spain, Sofia is free to explore and strikes up a relationship with the free-spirited Ingrid, portrayed by Vicky Krieps of “Phantom Thread”.
“In the case of Rose, it’s life and death. Do you choose life or do you choose the other?” Lenkiewicz told journalists in the German capital ahead of the premiere of the film.
“Hot Milk”, Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut, is one of 19 films competing for the festival’s Golden Bear top prize.
“I feel strongly that we hurtle into the world in birth, and death, if we are compos mentis, then we should be given a choice if it’s a clear-cut chronic case of palliative care or sickness,” she said, recalling how her father had faced difficulties in his decision to end his life at age 62.
“But it’s a big question, and our ending in the film, I think people will come away with different conclusions.”
(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Swantje Stein; Editing by Alison Williams)
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