The Door Is There (Hay una Puerta ahi) is a documentary about the unusual friendship that develops between two 70-year-old men. Fernando Sureda, an accountant who was the manager of the Uruguay Football Association, is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and he wants to die immediately. In Uruguay, euthanasia is illegal, so his case becomes a public controversy.
Sureda, who is referred to throughout the film as “Fernando,” makes video contact with Dr. Enric Benito. Benito is an oncologist, in Spain, where euthanasia is also illegal. Although Benito is sympathetic to the right to die, he is actually an advocate for palliative care. For 15 years, he was chairman of the Spiritual Care Task Force of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care.
The story takes place in 2019 and 2020. Because of Covid lockdown restrictions, international flights are not available, so Fernando and Benito communicate by online video. Benito asks permission to record their chats, and Fernando agrees. The Door is There consists of nine months of these video conversations, interspersed with voice and text messages.
Even though everyone who is born eventually dies, dying is a subject that most people prefer not to discuss. The directors of The Door is There, brothers Facundo and Juan Ponce de León, make it clear through their film that this denial is not a good idea.
Benito begins by asking Fernando, who is bedridden, why he wants to die as quickly as possible. ALS is a difficult way to die because the patient slowly loses one bodily function after another. Fernando says he wants to spare his wife and family the pain of watching him suffer. Benito doesn’t believe him. Fernando’s family members have told Benito that they don’t mind taking care of him. Benito accuses Fernando of being domineering and continuing to control his family even as he is dying.
Meanwhile, Benito himself has problems. He has bad back pains, and he and his wife have to go live with his mother-in-law. Now it is Fernando who advises Benito how to live his life.
The Door is There is not a downbeat film. Benito and Fernando even engage in humor. Benito tells Fernando to stop following the news about Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump and instead watch the films of Groucho Marx.
And they tell each other jokes about dying patients.
A doctor tells his patient who has a terminal disease to stop drinking alcohol and smoking. The patient asks if this will make him live longer. “No, but it will seem longer.”
A doctor tells his patient he has good news and bad news. “Which would you like to hear first?’
“The good news.”
“You have three days to live.”
“That’s the good news? What’s the bad news?’
“I forgot to tell you yesterday.”
