America ReFramed

Exit Music

By Cameron Mullenneaux. A Co-Production with Independent Television Service.

Ethan Rice was born with cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic illness that eventually leads to respiratory failure. Although medical interventions have kept him alive well beyond his prognosis, 28-year-old Ethan and his family live in constant uncertainty and everyday question how long they can go on fighting.

EXIT MUSIC documents Ethan’s final months, weeks, days and hours and is witness to death’s transformative influence on a family. While Ethan’s mother works to provide medical insurance, Ethan is in the care of his dad, Ed, a Vietnam War veteran with PTSD. He immersed Ethan in a world of art, creativity and imagination and documented it all on camera. Interweaving Ed’s home movies with Ethan’s original music and animation, the film unfolds as an unflinching meditation on the end of life.

In a culture that often looks away from death, EXIT MUSIC explores the intimate and complex path of terminal illness. What will Ethan’s absence mean to those he leaves behind?