SYNOPSIS:

A woman’s choice to save her infected leg becomes a proxy war in a marriage already fractured by infidelity and the unresolved grief caused by the loss of their daughter, where every medical decision exposes deeper betrayals neither can outrun. Director’s Statement I wrote LEGS because I have seen how vulnerable a person becomes when illness shifts power inside of a family. My mother lived with an aggressive form of early-onset Alzheimer’s. As the disease progressed, decisions about her body and her future increasingly rested in my father’s hands. At first, when he said he wanted to end her suffering, it sounded compassionate. But later at a hearing, it was shown that he was driven by money and abusive control. That reality forced me to confront something I still struggle with: when someone becomes ill, the systems designed to protect them can be manipulated, and there’s few safeguards when mercy morphs into self-interest. As Medical Assistance in Dying has become popular in Canada, I find myself asking difficult questions. What safeguards truly protect vulnerable people? What happens when grief, resentment or financial pressure shape life-and-death decisions? And how easily can the language of compassion conceal coercion when their partner stands to benefit from their surrender? LEGS explores these questions through a marriage under extreme strain. Belle’s body becomes a battleground where love, betrayal, trauma and control collide. Her husband’s resistance to treatment is layered — grief, fear, distrust — but also gives him an advantage to shed his old life. At its core, LEGS is about autonomy — and how fragile that autonomy can be when illness renders someone dependent.