Carolina De La Rocque
I had the opportunity to attend one of the world’s first screenings of Relax, Open Your Eyes, an independent documentary by David Ehrenreicher that follows Carrie Radomski “as she researches and trains with an international web of cryonicists attempting to hack mortality”. Ultimately, Relax, Open Your Eyes ended up being not only one of the best documentary pieces I have ever watched, but also one of the most unexpected and educational film-related experiences I ever came across.
With brilliant cinematography and production, Ehrenreicher’s empathetic and careful perspective aims at getting audiences to sympathize with cryonicists and with the beauty surrounding the world he found. It depicts Carrie and her husband as they become increasingly involved in the world of cryonics due to not only a belief in the idea but also his health issues. By establishing a connection between the audience and the many people that are involved in cryonics, Relax, Open Your Eyes carefully induces viewers to spend some time with the idea of storing human remains in a low temperature after legal death.
Director David Ehrenreicher revealed in an interview that “[his] film is about cryonics in some senses, but it’s more about the people behind the movement”. In a post screening Q&A, he also highlighted the connections he could establish through making this film as one of his favorite parts of it. Lauren Fosco — COO of Biostatis Technology and board member of the Cryonics Institute — is featured in the film and, in an interview, stated that she would want people to recognize this service as accessible and that she believes everyone should have the option to decide on what happens to their remains after legal death. Lauren also mentioned that participating in this film felt “just, cohesive, and synchronized”.
Relax, Open Your Eyes is outstanding because of David’s brilliant filmmaking and due to how compassionately it observes the people that wholeheartedly believe in cryonics. It is fearless through its humanized portrayal of a practice that has been fought against for too long.
