‘Translúcido’ by Leonard Zelig

Diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, Rubén, an Ecuadorian immigrant living in NYC, decides to forgo palliative treatment. Multiple doctors have confirmed his incurable diagnosis and he wants to die while maintaining his autonomy, before the pain becomes incapacitating. In the film Translúcido, we follow Rubén’s last day, as he makes amends and says farewell to various friends, in dialogues that are uncannily realistic. Rubén (played by Roberto Manrique) is committed to ending his own life by midnight with an overdose of heroin. Three people who visit him throughout the day are also present at the very end: a new neighbour, who works as a nurse and comes by to introduce herself, but ends up exchanging secrets with Rubén; an old friend who wants Rubén to ‘fight’ the disease, just as Rubén once encouraged him to overcome depression; and a lawyer, Rubén’s best friend, who plays games with him during the day and advises the others present at midnight not to touch anything, lest they face legal consequences. Besides these three relations, Rubén does a ritual with a healer who advises him to transform the pain, or else he would transmit it. He calls others over Skype, admitting his faults to an ex, and asking a friend in Ecuador to be the godfather to an unborn child (Rubén has accepted to be the sperm donor to a friend who wants to be a single mother). Nearing midnight, busy with the preparations for his suicide, he misses a call from his mother. In interviews, the cast has stated that the script was only 8-pages long and all dialogues were improvised. Adding to the realism of the film, we see Rubén’s editing a homemade video with scenes from Ecuador, which come from Manrique’s real travels through his home country.

Directed by Leonard Zelig, a Venezuelan-born resident of NYC, Translúcido was co-produced by Ecuador, Venezuela, and the USA, three countries with different laws regarding assisted dying. In Venezuela, any form of assisted suicide is deemed a crime (2005 Penal Code, Article 412); however, there is a tacit exception for cases of brain death, when the removal of artificial life support systems (sometimes referred to as ‘orthothanasia’) may be authorized by family members. In the state of New York, USA, where most of the film takes place, euthanasia remains illegal – which explains the lack of legal assisted dying options for the fictional Rubén in the film. In 2025, NY state legislators passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A. 136/S. 138), regulating physician-assisted dying, but the governor is yet to sign that bill into law. Contrastingly, since the film was launched, Ecuador has decriminalized euthanasia following Paula Roldán’s successful constitutional appeal (Sentence  No. 67-23-IN/24). Translúcido represented Ecuador in the 2018 Goya Awards, being shortlisted for the ‘Best Ibero-American Film’ category. Initially titled Thin Walls, the production started as a collaboration between only Venezuela and the USA; as reported by El País, given the economic crisis in Venezuela, Zelig had little hope of making a profit, so he invited the Ecuadorian star Roberto Manrique to be lead actor – and the film was allowed to represent Ecuador in international awards once Manrique took on the additional role of co-producer. In an interview with Cinemanía, Manrique confesses he disagrees with the character he plays, and that he sees the film, not as an apology for suicide, but as a mandate to live life to its fullest. Nonetheless, in social media, Zelig claims he wanted to reach out to the Derecho a Morir Dignamente foundation so they could use the film to promote debate on assisted dying. Moreover, quoting the director, a reviewer for Guayoyo en Letras claims Zelig’s intention was to create a film capable of changing legislation. In Ecuador, change did happen; and, even if we cannot attribute it to the film, Translúcido forms part of the zeitgeist that led to Roldán’s constitutional victory; thus, today, Rubén’s character would have the option of pursuing a legal assisted suicide in his birth country.