Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death (2017) User Reviews

Pretty GOOD!

[newenaneha · 7/10 · 3 December 2019]

Different people talking about their experiences with death. Some more interesting than others and not that deep BUT still worth a watch! Wow!

both thoughts, and feelings in this documentary

[hons · 10/10 · 29 March 2020]

While, and after watching, there was plenty to digest, both thoughts about what I and others think about death, and the host of feelings that can arise, along with the denial, minimization, rationalizations, or even the pain or inspiration. I would guess for most viewers, certain of the portrayals would resonate much stronger than other. For me, the cryonics didn't, the near death and the ex heart surgeon did.

It could have been interesting

[registration-17 · 3/10 · 29 March 2018]

Be prepared for a lot of flowery narration (including the obligatory Dylan Thomas poem, and a lot of generic comments about attitudes toward death, etc.) that give the impression the director wanted to impart some "gravitas" to the proceedings. I suppose they didn't feel the subject of death carried enough weight on it's own.

There are a series of interviews/comments by various people discussing their experience with (a relative's, their own impending, etc) or views about death, and philosophizing endlessly about same. There are a few interesting commentators, such as Maajid Nawaz, a reformed Islamist extremest who now runs a counter-extremism think tank, but, overall, the majority are not that compelling, and their thoughts are so common that there wasn't a need to put them on film.

What you have here is a documentary made by someone who wishes they were directing narrative films, and thus tries to imbue a sense of Great Significance.

In case you thought it might be a focus, only one subject discusses a near-death experience.