‘‘T Is Goed Zo’ by Jesse van Venrooij

Beginning with footage of Eelco’s family granting his last wish and scattering his ashes at a local pond, this documentary follows the last three months of Eelco de Gooijer, a 38-year-old Dutch man. The first part of the documentary focuses on Eelco’s relatives - his parents and his sister Monique - as well as his friend Nicole. They individually share memories of Eelco who, since childhood, had suffered with severe mental health problems diagnosed as PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified). Despite many attempts to make his life less miserable, Eelco’s condition remained unbearable, and he decided to end his life by euthanasia. Although immensely sad, all those close to Eelco express their support for his decision and are grateful that this option was available to him. In the second part Eelco himself is shown preparing for his death. He distributes his belongings, has a last conversation with Nicole, and writes a final entry for posthumous publication on the blog, which he has used to chronicle his life, his condition and his euthanasia journey. The film ends with footage from November 23, 2016, the day of Eelco’s death. The doctor comes to his house, explains the euthanasia procedure to Eelco and his mother and administers the infusion that puts Eelco into a coma. After that, Eelco is shown sitting in a chair next to his mother until he loses consciousness.

The documentary offers a down-to-earth view of the intersection of Dutch euthanasia law and mental health problems, including Eelco’s decision-making and the grief process of those around him. By initially focusing on the perspectives of Eelco’s relatives and friend, Nicole, the documentary gives context to his lifelong suffering and the decision to end his life by euthanasia. The documentary combines his family’s statements of support, despite their grief, with excerpts from radio and television interviews Eelco gave about his wish to die. Such a view which normalises euthanasia for those experiencing severe mental health issues is supported by the way Eelco’s death scene is depicted as peaceful, and his relatives seem relived that his final wish was granted. During his lifetime, Eelco’s blog documenting his euthanasia process garnered media attention, including newspaper, radio, and television coverage. After his death, his blog entries were published as a book alongside the documentary, with the aim of foregrounding the topic of euthanasia for those suffering mental illness. Such deaths had been legal since 2002 when the Dutch euthanasia law came into effect and numbers were already rising in the years before Eelco’s death. However, many cases were rejected due to lack of clarity around an individual’s clinical situation or the extent to which other treatments had been attempted. In 2018 new guidelines were published aimed at doctors and psychiatrists when dealing with a patient’s demand for euthanasia in connection with mental illness. Although Eelco’s case and the documentary may not have been instrumental in these changes, they are representative of attempts to publicise this sort of assisted death and the media attention surrounding it around at the time.