Pondering & Difficult
The existence of a human being is bound by a certain time; sooner or later, each individual is destined to succumb to the ultimate fate known as death. Of course, some may have diverging opinions, such as the ones who believe in reincarnation, life after death, or waking up in a simulation due to the multitude of possibilities of what can happen after one dies – until then, however, there is a fundamental truth we need to acknowledge: we have a limited duration on this planet of ours that we deem beautiful.
With that being said, the idea of one’s death is one that is both intriguing and terrifying, and yes, it is one that humanity has made several advancements in since the 1840s. If we take into account the median age of death across these years (of course focusing demolishing the United Kingdom, and Wales), then we will note that in the year 2020 the average life expectancy has nearly doubled, reaching towards the mid-80s. Essentially, the expected life span has increased throughout the course of history and within the time frame given so, currently, the main question at hand is, which direction will humans head towards in the future – will the life expectancy further increase in similar time frames?
A tech millionaire by the name of Bryan Johnson is on a journey to permanently etch his name in history as the man who conquered aging and sold an empire called Venmo. It’s only fitting that he sets the record straight by attempting to dethrone the late, Jeanne Calmet, who lived to be 122. Spoiler alert, he is hoarding millions in Silicon Valley and absolutely believes he can shatter the record.
To hell with being placed in a cryogenic chamber. Instead, Bryan has a plethora of pills and an eccentric sleep cycle ready for him. Alongside an occasionally algorithm-based health regime and some ground-breaking experiments. It didn’t take long for Johnson to decide that he wants to take everything in his stride and use his body as a human tester.
The best part? He has 90 minutes to dismantle the indoctrinated ideologies surrounding aging and death. Buckle up, because things are about to get weird।
The movie cuts inside Bryan’s daily life, investigating the coffee-for-bodybuilding regimen and how many pills he needs for different body parts. Along with that, there is also archival footage that delves into Bryan’s family history, his unpleasant relationship with the church, and his aspirations of being the best father to his son Talmage.
In addition, some of the details related to Bryan’s messy divorce with Taryn, which includes a lawsuit that he describes to be filled with lies he strongly denies, are included as well.
Despite pursuing these, it is Bryan’s health pursuits that take center stage and being around $2 million poorer each year, his passion is however, along with what he’s doing, blighted by critics from every corner of the globe.
The filmmakers have made some efforts in maintaining impartiality for the documentary, and it includes critics of Bryan as well as supporters of Bryan in the talking head segments. Bryan’s relationship with YouTube has come under scrutiny with several users branding his Olive Oil and Affiliate links as questionable, and does make for some interesting discussions with users of the platform. A reasonable assumption can be made that Johnson is akin to a snake oil salesman, for all of this might be another business tactic. There are more videos of social media critics being shown.
Regardless Bryan appears to be the type of individual who has no concern over what his public image is. Bryan does dismiss several comments from twitter/X trends and The Daily Mail, but still does prefer being in the spotlight and enjoys being the subject of attention so that many people are interested in his path.
In the movie all throughout, we are exposed to Bryan posting YouTube shorts, analyzing how different publications get interactions, and more. Now I have to say, he is quite the active commenter, as he also commented on the YouTube trailer of Netflix.
All of this, too, becomes clearer later on – when Bryan’s father explains how Ivan has always been fond of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. For his health philosophy and the entire Blueprint, it is glaringly obvious to set as a goal to turn his health philosophy and the entire Blueprint into a new religion and to teach other people to follow him, using the slogan Don’t Die. There is a jest about him being the Jesus of the next generation and while it’s clearly a jest there is definitely a thread of reality in this.
For sure, Bryan Johnson does not see himself as an idiot and of course, he understands that his actions may be rather “bizarre” in the area of science and health. Naturally, there is so much more here to be critical about, and in this desire to prolong one’s lifespan and somehow maximize your body – are you losing in the process some of the most valuable things in life? Bryan would say no, due to his relationship with son Talmage, however, we also see this man having a hard time relating with women or getting into dating activities at all.
Regardless if you accept what Johnson is doing or not, it is an intriguing question to think about and this movie without a doubt has plenty of ideas for discussion once the last credits are displayed.
For more movies Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever (2025) like visit 123Movies