Can You Die in Heaven?

The central figure of Can You Die in Heaven? is Jonathan, an 11-year-old boy who ponders things a great deal- much more than most children his age. When Jonathan was 8 years old his father committed suicide. To Jonathan it was a great shock. As he himself puts it, his father never talked about his problems.

Not long after the suicide, Jonathan is diagnosed with bone cancer and is forced into a long period of illness and treatment. With courage, humour, vitality, and frankness, Jonathan, his mother, and two brothers, pull together to work their way through grief and illness.

With sympathetic insight, the director, Erlend Mo, followed the family’s mental and physical struggles for over a year. In Can You Die in Heaven?, he has created an unusually attentive and life-affirming portrait of a healing process.