Brad Wheeler / Globe and Mail
In a moving, deeply spiritual film about an aging taxi driver dying of stomach cancer, the protagonist sets out on a drive across Australia to an ocean-side part of the country where euthanasia is legal. Is he frightened of dying? “Everyone is scared of doing things you’ve never done before,” says Rex Macrae, played note-perfect by Michael Caton as a man who lived alone and wishes to die the same way. Adapted from a stage play by Reg Cribb, Last Cab to Darwin is a scenic drama evocatively shot, with shafts of sunlight here and gritty blue-collar rurality there. Director Jeremy Sims probably uses a setting-sun metaphor more than necessary, but otherwise his decisions are immaculate and his film should hold audiences in thrall. On a journey of self-discovery, the metre keeps running. Might as well, Last Cab tells us, get your money’s worth.