Survive This

John, a man in his 50s, is ravaged by a gruesome mutation affecting much of his upper body. After waking to find it has grown drastically and painfully overnight, and believing it to be terminal, he decides to end his life and die on his own terms. When John summons the courage to tell his long-term partner, Frank, of his decision, he is met with incredulity and rage. After a desperate argument, Frank finally sees the physical pain John is in, and realises the strength of John's determination to end his own suffering. Over the course of their final evening together, their small interactions reveal their individual and shared doubts; their vulnerabilities; and the strength they each lend to the other, often at a cost to themselves. When John signals to Frank that the time is right, Frank is left with no option but to bury his reservations to support his partner as he takes the suicide pills in the hope of a peaceful death. John soon slips peacefully away in his lover's arms, indicating that the pills have worked. But just as everything appears to be going to plan, John begins to experience violent and painful convulsions, leaving Frank with a devastating choice; either watch helplessly as his partner suffers a terrible demise or take action and end his love's pain quickly in a final act of mercy. Inspired by real accounts, Survive This is a powerfully moving and uncompromising depiction of assisted suicide, exploring themes of love, mercy, dignity and mortality.