Movies depicting kidney failure/diaylsis

[Simon Dog]

Fresenius Clinic (product placement?).

I don't know, but I worked for a large computer storage system company, and  we had a group dedicate to product placement.  If a production company needed a computer room, the group would ship truckloads of hollow cabinets with the front panels intact and all the blinking lights operational (but no equipment, really kept the weight down).   I know the computer room on "24" had a lot of our stuff.

At least some guns in action movies are intentional product placement, and some unintentional.   The Miami Vice crew spent a bundle on prop guns, and I was surprised they were hardly ever seen.   Unknown to the supplier (until the release), these guns made it to the Heroes production set and were featured so prominently they should have had a co-starring credit.   The entire dymanic of that aspect of product placement was turned on its head when Stembridge prop rentals went out of business.

[justagirl2325]

There's a new one coming out this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834362/

 ''What Death Leaves Behind" presents a blue collar working man with a health problem, suffering kidney disease and in need of a transplant to continue to support his family. Jake Warren (newcomer Khalil McMillan is our Everyman), working at his Uncle Henry's HVAC company, and going in for dialysis treatments hoping to find a donor soon. A quiet man with some family issues, finally is blessed with luck. The operation is a success but... well, he's changing. Bad dreams, ugly thoughts, and an obsession with who the donor could be. This leads Jake down a dark path, with questions about a series of local killings in Chester, PA. The psychological thriller is based on real life "tissue memory" donor recipients, and the film goes deep into the idea of identity loss. The outcome of the story is jarring and heartbreaking in a smart thriller. The casting is key in this very stark thriller, no flashy big names but solid actors in defined roles. McMillan is great as our lead, an imposing strong and ultimately scary dude. Vincent Young as his co-worker defined as a logical caring friend, and Philly iconic actor Christopher Mann as Henry, a father figure. Standout performance by Mann in the final act is a revelation to his outstanding acting ability. Chad Morton story and collaborative script by producer Rachael Ofori, and directors Scott A. Hamilton and Nico Giampietro bring the goods. The film is unpredictable, and reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's best early efforts. Low budget but solid indie you will not forget."

The trailer is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daWH_aY8Pzw

[Cupcake]

Yikes! looks creepy good! I'm almost 3 months transplant and so far no flashbacks or weird visions. But my donor was my lovely sister-in-law and she is pretty terrific. I expected to inherit her love of pretty shoes, so far I'm sticking with my Brooks trainers.

[Michael Murphy]

My favorite was Epcot computer room, had huge viewing window, all the equipment was skinned to look like Univac computers.  This was during the late eighties and AT&T needed to install new machines in the room.  3B20 and 3B2 systems.  It was a pain they had fracators build new cabinets for the 3B20’s and sand blasted the 3B2 covers repainted and restenciled the covers.  It was strange working on the weird looking boxes.

[LorinnPKD]

There was an episode of Mary Kills People, a fiction series about a woman who euthanizes people with terminal illnesses.  She gives the drug on the beach to a rosy-cheeked, clear-thinking, fully mobile older lady who doesn't want to face the machine.

It's similar to an early episode of Scrubs, where a new doctor is responsible for another older lady with kidney failure.  She's similarly lively and feisty with no swelling or fatigue or cobwebby brain, no symptoms whatsoever. At one point she gets up and leaves the hospital to walk to a nearby park and have a festive birthday picnic with her granddaughter.  The doctor wants her to at least try dialysis but she declines. Naturally, she dies a few hours later(!) hahahaaaaaaa ha.

[Simon Dog]

Unfortunately, I don't remember the title, but there was a post-apocalyptic move in which a member of one of the factions (it seems everyone breaks up into waring factions after an apocalypse) needed dialysis, but there were no machines.  The problem was solved by kidnapping people, draining all their blood, and using it to replace the blood of the ESRD patient.

[Riki]

I was watching a show called Judging Amy.  Amy Brenneman is a family court judge, and Tyne Daly plays her mother, who is a CPS worker.  Amy has an alcoholic doctor cousin who was working in a small hospital.  In one episode, he has a little girl who has failing kidneys.  At one point, he tells the girls father that she needs a kidney soon because he doesn't think she will survive another "round of dialysis."

[LorinnPKD]

Oh, these are all so good!

I'd forgotten about the one that made me so mad I had to stop watching it altogether.

There's a show called Jessica Jones on Netflix.  Jessica is the victim of this mind-controlling maniac (played by David Tennant of Doctor Who) and while she's trying to bring this maniac down, she encounters others who were victims of this man.

One of the victims is this young man, Jack, who was driving a bus (that was crashed by said maniac) and one of the victims of the bus accident has a crushed kidney.  Jack feels guilty about the crash, so Jack insists that a doctor take BOTH(!!!) of his kidneys to give to the victim.  Also, he is the wrong blood type, and is told the kidneys would fail in A FEW YEARS(!!!) but he donates both anyways!  Because it totally works like that!

Anyway, Jessica goes to ask Jack questions and finds Jack living with his (somewhat awful) mother, but doing home dialysis in their very nice home.

Jessica is wide eyed: "Are you hooked up to this all the time???"  It's implied that he is, indeed -- that, yes, he's hooked up 24/7 to a machine the size of a small ATM, and that if he's unhooked he'll die.

[UkrainianTracksuit]

There is a Québécois film called "Le Garagiste" about a mechanic on dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. I guess it was marketed in English as "Adrien". Anyway, there was a lot of emphasis on thinking about mortality and I fell asleep during it. However, dialysis being a key to the storyline was pretty cool.

[KatieV]

I forget the title, but watched a movie a few years ago where one of the main characters was on PD.  Because he was so focused on helping these underprivileged kids, he kept skipping his treatments.  You see him clutching his stomach in pain numerous times throughout the movie.  Near the end, he collapses and is bleeding (!).  He then almost immediately gets a transplant.  So, so wrong in so many ways!

[gabor1982]

Susan Delfino, Desperate Housewives. Actually that was my one and only reference with this whole thing when the doctors told me I needed dyalisis, back in May. I was like "Oh like Susan from Desperate Housewives! ... Ooooh..."
It wasn't that unrealistic, at least they were talking about it in a hit tv show. Although they said the treatment was for 6 hours. Mine was always 4. And everyone else's as well. And we didn't chat during treatment. But I guess in a show, you have to chat, lol.
In the original Steel Magnolias, I think they do show Julia Robert's fistula. I think.

[PaulBC]

This portrayal of kidney transplantation is so ridiculous, I felt the need to post here for the first time in years: https://tvline.com/2019/05/08/riverdale-recap-season-3-episode-21-the-dark-secret-of-harvest-house/

My daughter convinced me to start watching Riverdale and we're finishing up season three. I think the series got off to a promising start in season one, but I'm not sure why we're still watching. It somehow manages to be preposterous and repetitive at the same time, recycling the most preposterous plot twists in slight variations (generally involved the formation of new and implausible gangs by the teens, and some form of drug dealing and/or real estate fraud by the adults).

Anyway, the "dark secret" as you can probably guess is that they're harvesting. Wait for it. Kidneys, bwhahaha!  And the amazing thing is that they just keep a big refrigerator of kidneys in boxes for later sale. Uh... no. In a climactic scene, Betty grabs one of these boxes with a kidney for proof. Granted, it wouldn't be much good at that point anyway.

There is a realistic enough portrayal of hemodialysis. My daughter picked up on it immediately, and she would know. There was also an IV in that scene, marked as anti-rejection drugs, which made very little sense, particularly as the surroundings were not sterile at all. We got a good laugh out of that, as well as the refrigerator. I guess there are some perks to having a family member who knows this stuff.

[Simon Dog]

There was an episode of Stargate Atlantis when a blood test was sufficient to work someone up for a transplant, they did a bone marrow tolerance transplant like it was a quick and easy procedure, then had the medical tech on board do the transplant after reading the instructions because they had no doctor on board.

The realistic part was one of two qualified donors chickening out.

This was during the late eighties and AT&T needed to install new machines in the room.  3B20 and 3B2 systems.  It was a pain they had fracators build new cabinets for the 3B20’s and sand blasted the 3B2 covers repainted and restenciled the covers.  It was strange working on the weird looking boxes.

AARGH!!!! I remember having to use a 3B2 instead of a Sparc because the startup I was working at was funded by tpc (the phone company).

I know some big compute companies have teams that have skins of machines dedicated for movie sets and will send a truck out and build a computer room for your movie ... as long as you leave their brand visible.   I've noticed the "Microsoft" credit in movies that rammed the Surface PC down the viewers throat every chance the plot called for someone to use a computer.

[iolaire]

Episode 6 of The Good Karma Hospital, free on amazon prime video this month shows a woman at the Indian hospital recently post transplant with dehydration.  Later they figure out that the surgery likely happened in India.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6441720/

We watch all six episodes over the weekend and enjoyed it.

[UkrainianTracksuit]

I barely watch television and never do I ever watch sitcoms but an acquaintance shared this tidbit with me. There is a show coming out on CBS called "B Positive" about some guy that needs a kidney donor and some chick from his past shows up offering to donate. Since it's a comedy, I guess it will be lighthearted?!

[Riki]

I barely watch television and never do I ever watch sitcoms but an acquaintance shared this tidbit with me. There is a show coming out on CBS called "B Positive" about some guy that needs a kidney donor and some chick from his past shows up offering to donate. Since it's a comedy, I guess it will be lighthearted?!

I've seen that advertised and was thinking of watching it just to see what they got wrong.  Since it's created by the same people who created The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, it might not be too bad.

[Hereware]

The only one I've seen if I remember correctly was .Ondine