At the outset of Elder Voices, we are immediately embroiled in a series of modern social tragedies that have become all too familiar in the United States in the last couple of decades. We hear tearful voices on the emergency calls made by victims and observers of mass shootings.

Last Flag Flying takes place in 2003—the year that Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein was captured and sentenced to hang. The film opens with Vietnam War veteran Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) walking into a nearly empty bar on a rainy night. He orders a beer from the brash-sounding bartender and after some brief conversation with him, says, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

My Claire is a very brief feature (cinematic) film about Henry, an elderly man trying to cope with the recent death of his beloved spouse, Claire. At its onset, we are immediately made aware that this film deals with death, grief, and mourning. Henry is having a tough time of it

This film opens on an interview with 82 year-old George (“Jack”) William Hall. Twenty-one years ago, his son—hooked on drugs as a teenager—“finally hanged himself.” Jack explains: “One day this dope dealer was bragging about how he made his money. He didn’t make no more. I stopped him.”

The defining theme of Dying Wish is offered at its outset by 80-year-old retired surgeon Dr. Michael Miller, who suffers from late-stage terminal cancer: “I’m Michael Miller. Soon I will discontinue drinking and eating and drift into death in days.