Documentarian Max Wexler has had a growing presence in his films. His first feature Me & My Matchmaker focuses on a dedicated matchmaker, but turns to include Wexler as she attempts to find his match. Next came Tell Them Who You Are, a portrait of Wexler’s cinematographer father that also explored Wexler’s wish to step out of his father’s shadow. In his latest, How to Live Forever, Wexler boldly steps into the spotlight, training the lens on himself, his fear of death, and his new found desire to live forever.
While living forever was once a thing of sci-fi fantasy, with ever-evolving science and nutrition regimes, eternity may be closer than we think. With it’s first trailer, you can get a taste of Wexler’s wild ride to immortality. Check it out below via Apple and the poster via GATW.
Filmmaker Mark Wexler is not going down without a fight. Faced with the devastating loss of his mother and his own advancing age, Mark takes off on a curious, lively, sometimes troubling enquiry into how he might live forever. His search takes him to the places where people live longest, from Okinawa to Iceland. He journeys to Las Vegas to attend a funeral directors convention and the Ms. Senior America pageant. He contemplates a future in cold storage at a cryonics facility in Arizona. He receives exercise tips from Jack LaLanne, hormone replacement advice from Suzanne Somers, and promises of eternal life from biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey. Yet the more he travels into the strange worlds of laughter yoga, elder porn, calorie restriction, and old-fashioned religion, the less sure he becomes of his goal. Can it be that life’s true meaning is found in the humble chili dog? A fun, provocative, and searching look at the deepest mystery of life.
How to Live Forever will open in New York May 13, expanding to Los Angeles May 20.
What do you make of this Fountain of Youth-chasing doc?