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Film Info

FILM FESTIVAL
Canada's Top Ten 2024 TIFF Canada's Top Ten

• Overview
• Cast
• Crew

Overview

Can I Get a Witness? (2024)

Release date: September 06, 2024

Starring: Keira Jang, Joel Oulette, Sandra Oh

Directing: Ann Marie Fleming

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller

Runtime: 110 min

Original title: Can I Get a Witness?

Original film language: English (en)

IMDb Profile

It's the future and we’ve solved all the world’s problems: mitigated climate change, eradicated poverty, achieved trans-species equality. Teenage artists have to record how we do it. It’s Kiah’s first day on the job.

Production countries: Canada

Production companies: Sleepy Dog Films

CastCan I Get a Witness?

• Keira Jang
• Role: Kiah

• Joel Oulette
• Role: Daniel

• Sandra Oh
• Role: Ellie

• Ben Immanuel
• Role: Peter

• Yuki Morita
• Role: Ana

• Patrick Gallagher
• Role: Sam

• Kymo Van Oers
• Role: Emmett

• Shaz Fahr
• Role: Mouna

• Casey Kenneth Wright
• Role: Ali

• Zaa Nkweta
• Role: Jake

• Jovanna Burke
• Role: Nancy

• Naika Toussaint
• Role: Justice

• Andre Anthony
• Role: Frey

• Oscar Chark
• Role: Philip

• Tedra Rogers
• Role: May

• Cassandra Sawtell
• Role: Felicity

• Jude Wilson
• Role: Jack

• Dominique Lucky Martell
• Role: Carla

• Ally Battaggia
• Role: Ally

• Reece Presley
• Role: Tig

• Sonya Bashash
• Role: Ram

• Devon Ellis-Durity
• Role: jazz singer

CrewCan I Get a Witness?

• C. Kim Miles
• Director of Photography

• Cheryl Marion
• Production Design

• Kelly Cole
• Sound Supervisor

• Brent Belke
• Music

• Ann Marie Fleming
• Director

• Ruth Vincent
• Producer

• Raymond Massey
• Producer

• Ann Marie Fleming
• Producer

• Haydn Wazelle
• Executive Producer

• Devon Ellis-Durity
• Associate Producer

• Tony Papa
• Associate Producer

• Angela Bright
• Costume Design

• Justin Li
• Editor

• Kevin Langdale
• Animation

• Edward J. Douglas
• Visual Effects

• Darci Jackson
• Makeup Department Head

• Charlene Dunn
• Hair Department Head

• Ann Marie Fleming
• Screenplay

A teenage girl becomes a Documenter in a future world where people are forbidden to live past 50 in Can I Get a Witness?. Kiah (Keira Jang) is a teenage artist beginning her first day using her drawing skills to document End of Life events for those who have to undergo forced euthanasia as a way to control the planet’s population. As her mother Ellie (Sandra Oh) stays home to enjoy her final days, Kiah is paired with Daniel (Joel Oulette), who does not question the state of the world. However, Kiah finds herself having difficulty witnessing the final moments of so many people.

Can I Get a Witness? Synopsis

Can I Get a Witness? is a drama written and directed by Ann Marie Fleming (Window Horses). The film is presented as a hybrid of live-action and animation, as the drawings made by the protagonist Kiah come to life in the world around her. However, this very bright and colourful presentation hides the fact that Can I Get a Witness? takes place in a world that was nearly destroyed by climate change. This resulted in the establishment of the Universal Constitution of Human Rights and Responsibilities. While this Constitution was seemingly successful in saving humanity, the caveat is that people are no longer allowed to live past the age of 50. As she bears witness to multiple End of Life ceremonies, Kiah struggles with whether killing people is the right path.

My Thoughts on Can I Get a Witness?

Unlike Caitlin Cronenberg’s similarly-themed horror film Humane, Ann Marie Fleming seems intent on approaching a world, where forced euthanasia has become the norm, with as much optimism as possible. As some of the characters, such as Sandra Oh’s Ellie, still remember the “old world,” so to speak, the plot suggests that this practice has only been in place for a couple of decades at most. While Can I Get a Witness? drops hints to how dystopian the world has become, such as an End of Life ceremony late in the film that goes wrong, Ann Marie Fleming instead attempts to dissuade the struggles of Keira Jang’s Kiah with a final scene of mother-daughter bonding. However, knowing what comes next for Ellie resulted in me leaving Can I Get a Witness? feeling depressed.

Trailer for Can I Get a Witness? – TIFF Canada’s Top Ten 2024

Sean Patrick Kelly

Sean Patrick Kelly is a Toronto-based freelance film critic and blogger with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from York University. Since founding his site in 2004, Sean has shared his passion for cinema through insightful reviews and commentary. His work has also been featured in prominent outlets, including Toronto Film Scene, HuffPost Canada, Screen Anarchy, ScreenRant, and Rue Morgue Magazine.