This Mortality Movie Matinee at the Sunrise Theater features the cult comedy classic film Harold and Maude. The event combines the enjoyment of watching a good film with a thoughtful, engaging conversation about life, death, grief, funerals, aging, or end-of-life choices. The movie provides a comfortable starting point for exploring subjects people often find difficult to discuss.

Harold and Maude, a 1971 Hal Ashby film, tells the unlikely story of a death-obsessed young man whose friendship with a spirited older woman transforms the way he looks at life. Beneath the film’s dark humor are questions about mortality, aging, relationships, personal freedom and what it means to live fully.

After the film, death educator and Certified Thanatologist Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®, leads an informal audience discussion inspired by the story. Using questions and observations from the film, she invites participants to consider what the characters did well, what they might have done differently, and what the movie can teach us about communicating our wishes, planning ahead, and living more fully.

The atmosphere is welcoming, conversational, educational, and often surprisingly funny. Audience members can participate as much or as little as they like.

Mortality Movies make serious subjects easier to approach, because sometimes it’s easier to start a conversation about death with characters on a movie screen and a bucket of popcorn.