#SXSW: “CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD SAMARITAN” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

When Director Penny Lane decides to donate her kidney to a stranger, she makes the decision to document each part of the process. Initially, she’s met with skepticism and many questions of ‘why’. As we watch her go through each step in the process, Lane manages to change our way of thinking and make us laugh while she does it.

Confessions of a Good Samaritan is an in-depth inquiry into the science, history, and ethics of organ transplantation. Experts across many fields lend their knowledge not only of the process of organ transplantation but traits of the individuals who donate. A particular section on the meaning and importance of altruism is the first time audience members start understanding what makes someone want to become a donor. This altruism is showcased through Lane. Although she doesn’t think of herself as a good samaritan in the beginning. Following her story informs the viewer of the lengthy process a donor experiences. And her quirky personality is the cherry on top of this entertaining, through-provoking Documentary.

By the end, Lane has changed our question of ‘why’ into ‘why not’. We see that donating a kidney, or something as small as agreeing to be an organ donor on your driver’s license, is something anyone could and should do. She’s brought us along on her journey and showed us that there is a different way to live. Not a life of only thinking about ourselves and our close loved ones. But one where we can extend that care, nurture, kindness and love to strangers. It’s clear that the world would be a much better place with more good samaritans.

Confessions of a Good Samaritan screens at SXSW ’23 as follows:

Mar 10 at 5:00pm at Alamo Lamar B

Mar 11 at 11:00am at Satellite Venue: AFS Cinema

Mar 15 at 12:30pm at Violet Crown Cinema 1

Mar 15 at 1:00pm at Violet Crown Cinema 3