Angel of Mercy, Angel of Death: Woman Offers the Dying a Sweeter Departure Stephen Holdenmarch - The New York Times
go to original March 14, 2014

Jasmine Trinca plays a fierce woman who makes the shadowy business of assisted suicide her personal mission. (LuxPrize)

Figures observed through frosted glass as they engage in semi-audible conversation: That mysterious tableau, which begins Valeria Golino’s film “Honey,” defines the detached sensibility of the title character. “Honey” (“miele” in Italian) is the code name for Irene, a fiercely free-spirited woman in the shadowy business of assisted suicide.

Portrayed by Jasmine Trinca, an athletic gamin with adorably crooked teeth, Irene is connected to a loose network of contacts who direct her to terminally ill clients. They pay her handsomely in cash for what she views as ethically high-minded missions of mercy to end their suffering.

Once a month, she flies from Italy to Mexico, via Los Angeles, to purchase over-the-counter barbiturates used by veterinarians. In her carefully rehearsed spiel to a pharmacist, she explains that she needs the medicine to put down her ailing 14-year-old dog.

“Honey,” the impressive debut feature by Ms. Golino, sustains a contemplative mood with undersaturated cinematography that evokes the world as perceived through a light mist. After following Irene on one of her forays to Mexico, the movie tracks her as she brings her lethal potions to desperate patients, whom she treats with the cool respect and compassion of a visiting nurse.

Read the rest at The New York Times

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