The media helps to form/reflect cultural definitions of suicide and these, in turn, can influence policies on suicide prevention. Little is known about the accuracy of portrayals of assisted suicide (AS) in the movies. Do the characteristics differ from those in reality? Are the drivers (psychiatric, social strains, demographic) of cinematic AS different from those of other cinematic suicides? Have these portrayals changed over time? The present study fills these gaps. METHODS: Data on movies containing portrayals of AS are taken from the updated film archive of Stack and Bowman (2011) Suicide Movies, containing 1845 suicides, including 40 AS. Comparative epidemiological data on 1,459 AS in reality are from Oregon (Oregon Health Authority, 2021). Predictors differentiating AS from other film suicides include health problems, social strains, psychiatric morbidity and demographics. RESULTS. Movies portrayed AS long before it became legalized, the first depiction appearing in 1915. Demographics differ between cinematic and real AS, and include 22.5% vs. 52.3% women, age over 64 7.5% vs. 72.8%, and Caucasian race 100% vs. 96.4%. Some health conditions were neglected (e.g. 0% ALS vs. 8.0%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis found the best construct that differentiated AS from other suicides was poor health; suicides involving poor health were 16.16 times more apt to be AS. CONCLUSION. Cultural definitions in cinematic AS are often not consistent with patterns in reality, which may impede efforts at suicide prevention.