SXSW 2025 Review: OTHER SIDE, Compassion Until The End

Brooklyn-based documentarians Carter Oakley and Heather Hogan have made a career of focusing on end-of-life issues.

As individuals, they themselves have witnessed the process with loved ones and through Hogan’s work as a death doula. The reality is that sometimes it went well, sometimes it didn’t.

These experiences fostered an interest in stories where the individual has some manner of control over the situation, and this led them to Lynda Bluestein. She had made headlines when she launched a lawsuit against the state of Vermont to gain access to their Death With Dignity law, Act 39.

Upon receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, Bluestein, a dynamic and admirably stubborn individual, had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to die on her own terms. But she faced challenges. It was illegal in her home state of Connecticut and her closest option, Vermont, did not grant that right to individuals who were not residents. Undeterred, she pursued the case, and she won.

Other Side picks up Bluestein’s story after the lawsuit as she embraces this compassionate end-of-life option. Oakley and Hogan employ a primarily observational approach to follow her over the course of a year as she interacts with health care professionals and publicly continues the fight to expand access to medically assisted death for more people, especially in her home state.

The filmmakers skillfully mix montages of voices and imagery with long take fixed camera shots. Although these are both very different approaches, the blend here works to always pull the viewer in and keep them engaged.

Bluestein’s openness and sincerity are inspiring, and one can see how she has come to influence even the most reticent of her family members and friends to be just as frank in front of the camera. At times, there is a flurry of health care professionals on screen, explaining this or that, but when mixed with the various events in Bluestein’s life, it becomes a cohesive whole.

Because of the filmmakers’ unrestricted access to family meetings, we see that, while they often all seem to take things in stride, individual stresses do appear. Everything is out in the open.

This everything to which I refer includes following the steps towards Bluestein achieving her wish. It's not an easy film to watch, especially as the viewer can see that, despite her positive manner not matter what downturns occur, the people closest to her are putting on a brave face.

She’s always thinking of them, however, and she keeps them all busy with her activism and her wind telephone project. The wind phone originated in Ōtsuchi, Japan in 2010 when garden designer, Itaru Sasaki wanted a way to cope with his grief over the loss of his cousin to terminal cancer. He felt like this would be the best way to communicate his thoughts, as the wind could carry them better to his dearly departed. Bluestein wanted to create such an option for those closest to her.

Beyond the headlines, Oakley and Hogan build a stirring portrait of a courageous individual who pursues her beliefs. Lynda Bluestein is a lively and open person even in these circumstances. Her generosity infuses every frame of the film.

This is a stirring portrait of a wife and mother who also became an activist so that others could access the same right. She may have gotten the exemption from Vermont, but the state did not expand that right to others outside the state at the time of filming.

At the moment, medically assisted death is illegal in all but 10 states in America. Watching Other Side may be a shattering experience for some, but it is a worthy testament to Lynda Bluestein’s work and bravery.

The film enjoys its world premiere at SXSW.. Visit its official page for more information.