CanIGetaWitness?tellsthestoryofamotheranddaughterinanear-futureworldwherehugesacrificesaremadetomaintainlifeonEarth.
Withitsresourcesswallowedbye-wasteandoverpopulation,theworldisexperiencingananthropogeniccollapse.Tomanage,technologicaladvancesareshunned.Nobodyhaselectricityandonlypeoplewithexceptionsarepermittedcars.Mostimportantly,thereisalsoacollectiveagreementthatnobodyisallowedtolivebeyondtheageof50.
Oh’sEllieliveswithherteenagedaughterKiah(KeiraJang),whoisstartingherfirstdayasaDocumenter,animportantroleinthisnewworldorder.Sheusesherartisticgifts—beautifullyconjuredinanimations—todrawthedyingceremonies,sinceprintingandphotographyhavebeenbanned.
KiahispairedwithDaniel(JoelOulette),theyoungmanwhoperformsthecontractualelementsofeachperson’send-of-lifeceremony.Hematter-of-factlyprovidesthepackagesapersoncanchoose,setsthemupwhenthetimecomes,andperformstheburials.Buthisnewcoworkerishavingahardtimehandlingtheemotionalimpactsofthejob.