115 minutes – Crime, Drama
Release date: November 8, 1987 (Broadcast date)
Canadian distributor: CBC

And Then You Die is set in Montreal and tells a realistic and gritty story of underworld drug dealing and a local drug czar, Eddie Griffin. Along with building a huge personal fortune he has also collected a large pile of business problems, and some personal ones as well. His personal problems stem from that fact the he leads a double life. To many he has an idyllic suburban life, complete with beautiful home, wife and child. On the other hand he is part of the underworld where the golden rule of survival dictates that he trust no one, not even friends and associates. Unfortunately for Griffin, things start to go awry when in the space of just one week he makes enemies of the RCMP and the Hells Angles and then one of his crew is blackmailed in to selling him out. This film is, in some ways, a Godfather wannabe. In one scene they even use the line Marlon Brando made famous, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Beyond that it is well-made and relatively intelligent within the genre. The performances are fine and the music is especially good. The made-for-TV movie dates to a time when the CBC was in the feature film business. And Then You Die won five Gemini Awards and numerous other prizes at international film festivals.