How do you choose who deserves to live and die, and get away with a clean conscience?
Austin Stark’s New York-set “The God Committee,” now playing in select theaters and available on demand, is fueled by that moral quandary. A committee, including surgeons and a curious new priest, determine which patients will get a coveted organ transplant and which will be effectively sentenced to death.
“I, like a lot of people, always sort of felt that doctors are expected to be superhuman and [I] had a lot of reverence for them,” Julia Stiles, 40, starring as Dr. Jordan Taylor, told the Daily News.
But the film, based on a play by Mark St. Germain, pulled back the curtain on that, said the native New Yorker, bringing to the fore “the administrative challenges that they face or the financial constraints at any given hospital.”
The film deals in two timelines six years apart — in 2014 and the present day – with the former showcasing Jordan’s first day on the committee, when the group is tasked with deciding who gets the heart of a recently deceased 18-year-old. The contenders: A beloved grandmother, an adored father and a rich party boy who may or may not test positive for recent drug usage, making him ineligible.
“She has all the ideals that would make her qualify for the position. She wants the best for her patients, she’s very emotionally invested, but she would really struggle to actually make the final call,” said the “10 Things I Hate About You” star.
Jordan’s inaugural day also introduces the committee to Father Dunbar (Colman Domingo), whose presence on the board perpetually raises eyebrows.
“At first I was confused about the character,” the “Zola” star, 51, told The News of Dunbar’s motives and unconventional backstory. “Of course, I was drawn to him, because I couldn’t figure him out.”
Despite being “a tricky guy,” as Domingo calls him, Father Dunbar serves as the audience’s way in to understand the reasoning behind the committee’s varied opinions,” Domingo said.
“His presence says a lot,” he added. “They’re like, ‘We have the presence of God at a table with science.’”
The debates throughout the film feel eerily similar to some that emerged during the coronavirus pandemic: Who gets oxygen and vaccines? Except now it’s who has lived long enough, who contributes more to society, who would be missed by more people, and so on.
In the 2021 timeline, Jordan has “matured but also had to distance herself from her patients. … And I think that’s for survival reasons. Like you can’t carry that weight on your shoulders,” says Stiles.
Despite Jordan’s need to distance herself, Stiles hopes audiences will dig deep into the film’s message and “reflect on how we are part of a greater whole.”
“We’re all human beings, we all have family members and loved ones that we want to see thrive,” she said. “But we’re part of a collective.”
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