It’s almost impossible not to sentimentalize stories that deal with euthanasia, the “right to die” on one’s own terms as a way of ending suffering. The popular play and film Whose Life Is It Anyway?

David Lynch’s movies aren’t easily explicated. After trekking through Mulholland Dr. shot by shot over 12 hours with some 1,000 students, even Roger Ebert gave up on that one. For this reason his work ...