80 Plus (2024)

Helene Hochstetter was once a celebrated theater actress and now, at 86, lives a secluded life in a retirement home. After being diagnosed with an incurable illness, she arranged an appointment in Switzerland to receive assisted suicide there. However, Helene can no longer drive her vintage car herself, and her nephew Josef, a conservative politician, refuses to act as her chauffeur on her final journey. Josef wants to have her declared legally incompetent. Flying is out of the question because she is afraid of flying, and she does not want to travel by train because she sometimes has to use a wheelchair. Toni Leitner, a former nurse, has to recuperate temporarily at Helene’s retirement home after a fall, and Toni and Helene become neighbors there. Before long, the two are in the vintage car, driving to Switzerland. What Helene initially does not know is that Toni does not have a driver’s license. So when they are stopped by the police, Helene claims that she was driving. During the journey, Josef follows them, hoping to dissuade his aunt from seeking assisted suicide. Along the way, Toni also has second thoughts when Helene tells her that she has refused treatment. Toni smokes and drinks, while Helene leads an abstinent life. Toni accuses Helene of not knowing how to have fun. Helene then suggests that they stay a few days longer at the place they have stopped for lodging and enjoy themselves. Toni tries to persuade Helene to think it over once more. Helene, however, does not want any more chemotherapy or operations. Her best friend had suffered a miserable death and begged Helene to end her life. Helene had been unable to help her and had signed up for assisted suicide at the time. At the Swiss border, the two are stopped because Helene has been reported missing. Pretending that they urgently need medicine from the car, they make their escape. They take the vintage car to a garage for a complete overhaul and borrow an electric car instead. In Zurich, they meet Thea König, one of Helene’s former acting students. When Thea learns that Helene has come to Switzerland for assisted suicide, she is horrified. Toni steers Thea and Helene to a nightclub and has a spell of weakness while dancing. The next morning, Helene finds Toni lying on the floor of their hotel room. The doctor they call for help, Dr. Brücker, diagnoses Toni with acute heart failure. Helene then calls Ferdinand, Toni’s son, who wants to bring his mother home. By this point, Josef has tracked them down at their hotel. However, the police officers he called see no reason to arrest them. The two then attend Thea’s dress rehearsal, where Helene is honored for her life’s work. At the celebration, she praises Toni onstage for raising her son alone, overcoming a difficult life, and making the best of it.