Zurich 2013

Lea Liv Lisa Fries has lived with cystic fibrosis since childhood. At 22, she endures constant breathlessness even with an oxygen concentrator, and she relies on pills to ease her symptoms, though simple tasks like climbing stairs leave her gasping. Her older brother, who shared the same disease, died years earlier after a lung transplant, and their father walked away from the family, now living in South America. The weight of this history presses on Lea, shaping how she experiences each day.

Because her health is deteriorating, Lea makes a stark decision: she wants to die on her 23rd birthday at a specific time. With euthanasia illegal in Germany, she seeks help from a Swiss organization that offers assisted euthanasia. Quietly she travels to Zürich, checking into a hostel. There she is picked up by Michaela Orff Bibiana Beglau, an employee of the organization, who escorts her to Dr. Seydlitz Robert Hunger-Bühler. The doctor, convinced by Lea’s dire health, prescribes a controlled substance, setting the plan in motion.

Lea texts her family to share her intentions, and when they arrive in Zürich, she speaks openly about what she intends to do. Her grandmother Maria Kerstin De Ahna and her sister Rita Sophie Rogall are shocked, yet try to accept her choice, while Lea’s mother Lena refuses at first. After a heartfelt conversation, Lena is broken by the news, but she begins to understand her daughter’s motives, even as the ache remains.

At the hostel Lea meets Moritz Max Hegewald, a peer around her age who is also wrestling with deep depression. He had applied for euthanasia but was rejected, and Lea’s kindness toward him blossoms into a fragile friendship. The two explore the city together, including a low-key boat trip on Lake Zürich, where they share silences and small talk that feels like a lifeline amid fear and uncertainty.

The day before Lea’s planned death, the family gathers for what they call a “last schnitzel.” They share a warm, tender evening at a restaurant, savoring ordinary moments and clinking glasses at midnight as Lea jokes about what awaits. The moment is bittersweet, mixing humor with the gravity of Lea’s decision. Lea’s quips reflect a stark clarity about her desire to escape physical suffering: “never be lovesick again, never climb stairs again, never fear suffocation again.” The scene marks a rare, near-light moment of connection before the final act.

Returning to the hostel, Lea experiences a violent coughing fit, underscoring the fragility of her condition. The next morning, the family and Michaela Orff accompany Lea to the organization. Miss Orff reminds Lea that she can still cancel, but Lea chooses to proceed. She takes an antiemetic so she won’t vomit, then suffers a panic attack in a bathroom. Looking at her reflection, Lea resolves to finish what she started, a choice that weighs heavily on everyone present.

In the final hours, Lea and her loved ones go to a nearby playground where she drinks the overdose and falls asleep, held by Lea’s mother as life slips away. The story lingers in the wake of that decision, inviting reflection on illness, autonomy, and the ties that bind families even as they must confront an ending chosen in grief.