Blackbird 2015

Over a weekend, Lily and Paul welcome a three-generation family to their rural lakeside home, hoping to share one last, quiet time together as Lily battles an incurable illness. The gathering is meant to be a farewell, but the tensions that have long simmered beneath the surface soon rise to the foreground.

Anna arrives late with her partner Chris, and it’s clear she is estranged from the family in a way that optics of reunion can’t disguise. Jennifer, Lily’s daughter, tries to bridge the gap and reach out to Anna, asking why she hasn’t shown up to various family events. Chris is introduced to relatives who don’t know him, and Anna’s presence becomes a point of quiet friction. Jennifer critiques Anna’s relationship with Chris, while Anna, in turn, is skeptical of Jennifer’s husband Michael. Lily’s long-time friend Liz also feels the weight of complicated history with the family, and her presence stirs its own set of unspoken judgments.

The central thread is Lily’s plan to end her life on her own terms after the weekend—an option her husband Paul supports, even as the rest of the family wrestles with the morality and consequences of such a decision. While the purpose of the visit is sorrowful, the weekend settles into familiar communal rituals—crossword puzzles, charades, shared meals—moments that momentarily mask the weight of the choice looming over them.

As the days unfold, the family becomes a mirror for each other’s stories and secrets. The grandson Jon asks his grandfather how they will carry out the euthanasia, revealing the practical and emotional complexity of the plan: because euthanasia is illegal in their state, Paul intends to tell the 911 dispatcher that Lily must have taken the medication while he was on a walk, effectively outsourcing the truth to a crisis line. Jon senses the fragility of Lily’s health, while Paul explains that Lily is likely to deteriorate quickly once she starts to decline.

A sense of ritual seeps into their routine, and Lily even suggests an early Christmas, assigning tasks and inviting everyone to participate in a family performance of sorts. During a walk, she points out the very land where Jennifer was conceived, a revelation that ties the family’s past to the place they now inhabit. Jennifer’s own conception story, by contrast, feels ordinary in Lily’s telling, underscoring how much of their history remains private and personal.

As Lily’s end approaches, the emotional load becomes hardest for her daughters, Jennifer and Anna. Anna confides in Chris about her sister’s potential plan to call 911, and Jen’s response swings between protective instinct and stubborn loyalty to Lily. In the kitchen, Jen discovers pentobarbital—an object that crystallizes the gravity of Lily’s choice and the stakes for everyone present. Jon, meanwhile, provides a glimpse into a future he longs for, confessing a hidden wish to become an actor, a desire that adds another layer to the family’s portrait of ambition and constraint.

During dinner, Lily marks the moment with tokens that symbolize each person’s role in her life: pieces of jewelry for everyone, a novelty tie for Michael, and an unexpected gift for Jen. The exchange highlights both affection and the control that well-meaning relatives exert over one another, especially as Anna emphasizes they are “messed up,” revealing scars from past struggles and a recent admission of hospitalization for attempted suicide.

As night deepens, Anna reveals to Chris the extent of her sister’s struggles, including bipolar disorder, and Jen confronts Anna about her intentions. A sense of unease settles over the house as Jen discovers Paul and Liz sharing a moment downstairs, prompting sleepless hours spent poring over old photo albums and recognizing Liz’s presence on countless family trips.

The next morning, Lily urges a slower, more relaxed Sunday, but Jen pieces together a plan with Anna to block the euthanasia by calling 911. They press Lily for confessions from Paul or Liz, and Lily, trying to shield those she loves from loneliness, insists that it was her own idea, not theirs. The mood shifts from protective to confrontational as the family eyes the line between memory and mercy.

Ultimately, Lily rallies the participants to be part of the ritual, but Jen and Anna insist on standing by Paul at Lily’s side as she drinks the medication. The moment arrives with heavy sincerity, and one by one the family members depart, each stepping away to honor Lily in their own way as the weekend ends. The film leaves a quiet, unsettled aftermath—a family’s complicated love laid bare, a matriarch’s choice honored and contested, and questions about what it means to say goodbye when life and liberty brush up against one another.