Dead or Dying (2026) - Gåsebäck Film Festival

Synopsis:
In a near-future Los Angeles, people are dying in droves—and most of society has learned to live with it. Dead or Dying is a darkly funny ensemble comedy following a web of characters navigating a world where mortality has become background noise.

Phoebe is the personal assistant to Sam, a flailing TV star desperate for a comeback after unspecified allegations derailed her career. When Phoebe experiences a shocking event in the middle of a workday, she struggles to maintain the relentless optimism and availability Sam demands, putting her job at risk.

Across the city, on the eve of a pitch for an app that he believes will change the world, Lennon is sent spiraling as his favorite billionaire dies in humiliating circumstances. Elsewhere, therapist Terry—fresh off a session with a client who refuses to listen—takes to social media to propose a radical solution for avoiding uncomfortable thoughts altogether.

As these stories intersect, the film introduces a cross-section of Angelenos: a venture capitalist obsessed with her new downtown loft, a woman who keeps stumbling upon dead bodies, a couple on the verge of a breakup before a road trip, a lonely man convinced he’s about to die, and a grieving delivery worker who still has to finish his shift, despite it all.

Directed by: Malin von Euler-Hogan and John Purcell
Runtime: 95 minutes
Language: English
Country: USA