O Homem que Quer Viver para Sempre

This is an 8 for me because rarely has a documentary been more revealing through what it does not elucidate, namely the deep insecurities of Bryan Johnson and all the things he hides from the world, including himself - his shadow self. "I'm a disaster of an intelligent being..." and "I don't fear death..." were his words in this documentary, whose title reads, "The man who wants to live forever". This is a person full of contradictions and unaware of his blind spots. He might succeed in being the first man to live beyond 120 years of age, but die eventually he will.

The origin of Johnson's death anxiety began in his burnout in his mid- to late-thirties, which brought him face-to-face with his shadow self and led him to question his existence and relationship with the LDS church. Perhaps he realised there has to be more to life than being stressed out 24/7 as a tech entrepreneur, and he found no pleasure in his roles as a husband, a father, a son and a Mormon. At the peak of his existential crisis, he experienced severe depression and suicidal ideation. It was a complete obliteration of the self that he had known.

But who was Bryan Johnson if he wasn't a Mormon, a husband, a father, a son and a tech entrepreneur? His identity was built on those very foundations, but they were also the building blocks to his despair. He felt he had no other choice but to leave the church and his community, and he probably feared the punishment of hell that is promised to the unfaithful like him. That could be the beginning of his obsession with extending his life as best he could, so that he can delay purgatory.

All this is merely my hypothesis, of course. For a documentary so fixated with longevity, it was telling that the focus was purely on physical health, with absolutely no exploration of mental well-being, other than a brief acknowledgement of the importance of social connection and community by Johnson himself. It seemed like a deliberate effort on his part not to discuss his burnout, depression, exit from Mormonism and its repercussions because he desired to avoid painful emotions and memories.

The Don't Die enterprise is fuelled by Johnson's need to carve out a new identity and fulfill his fantasy of cheating death at all cost, while avoiding the difficult topics of self-fidelity, self-compassion and self-acceptance (all three of which Johnson is no closer to achieving). Living a healthy lifestyle through minimising stress, eating nutritious food, exercising regularly and having adequate sleep is no news to anyone in the 21st century. Unlike Johnson and his acolytes, many in the world simply don't have such luxury because they are busy working in terrible conditions in poor countries, making goods for those like him and his followers, who never seem content no matter how much they already have. As guaranteed as his mortality is, Johnson can never outrun his shadow.

How foolish of me, in retrospect, to have expected I might learn something interesting from this documentary. For its 90 minute run time, the actual salient facts of Bryan Johnson's longevity project come few and fast. He exercises an hour a day with three intensity sets a week. He's vegan. He takes a hundred or more "pills." Beyond this, the story focuses on his relationship with his son, a little about his past, and makes passing attempts to frame the controversy surrounding him (there isn't much) and to enter the conversation on public health.

I'd hoped to learn a bit more about what he's actually doing, what vitamins or pills he might be taking, but with only a couple of exceptions, this and many other facets of Johnson's project remained unknown. I realized that this is likely because those aspects are proprietary. This is Johnson's personal quest, but also his enterprise. So the "debate" over whether he is altruistic or some grifter seems answered by the nature of the documentary about him itself; to really know about the man who wants to live forever, just plug in your credit card number.

Self made millionaire Bryan Johnson devotes his life to seeming eternal youth. This documentary explores his past, his present and his relationships.

In my mind's eye, I kept hearing Lois from Family Guy, shouting out 'Bryyyyan,' and at times, I almost felt like I was watching an episode of Family Guy, where Peter sells his soul to The AI gods, in exchange for living forever.

I have keenly followed Bryan for many years, and I find him truly fascinating, millionaires exist in a different world from the vast majority of us, he's impossible to understand, but he's fascinating to watch.

I worry people will slate this documentary, purely because they loathe Bryan, or vehemently disagree with what he's doing, I hope not, because this is a fascinating watch.

Bryan.......some of what he does intrigues me, some of it I agree with (exercise, supplementing, dodging processed food etc,) some of it terrifies me, the general therapy, but who knows, perhaps in twenty years time we'll all be doing things that he's been doing here.

Bryan has the wealth to do whatever he likes, I've always thought of him as a slave to AI, he doesn't seem to live, he seems to exist, through algorithms and routines, I couldn't imagine anything worse, but it's his life, and it is fascinating.

It's very interesting.

7/10.

I have been interested in Brian Johnson and find the science behind longevity fascinating, but unfortunately the documentary failed to hold my attention. The documentary starts with how the press found Brian, the subsequent whirlwind and how the project started. Then they start talking about his son and what colleges he is going to and start deviating down the road of who else is showing up to interview Brian.

At least as far as I got, the documentary seemed more focused on Brian, the initial press whirlwind, shirtless shots, random tidbits about his life, a naked photoshoot of Brian, negative press headlines, and then random people showing up to interview him. It barely touched on the science or efficacy of any of what he was doing or the implications and unfortunately the show just fell flat. The documentary was more focused on peoples reactions, and Brian shirtless, than anything of substance about living longer. I think there is probably a good way to make a documentary about Brian and Blueprint but this just wasnt it. Maybe it gets better after 25 minutes but I just couldnt do it.

As "Don't Die" (2025 release; 89 min) opens, we are introduced to Bryan Johnson, the now very wealthy former owner of Braintree Venmo. Johnson is on a strict regime and life style to maximize his expected life term into the extreme. He is doing this with the assistance of a longevity consultant. All of it is in essence done on a trial-by-error basis. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from prolific director Chris Smith ("100 Foot Wave"). Here he follows the longevity experiment that Bryan Johnson is undertaking. Johnson is correct of course that many of us have unhealthy life styles and habits. Johnson is on the other end of the extreme in health and wellness, costing him $2 million/year (apparently pocket change for Johnson). I was ready to abandon this documentary after 30 minutes, but then the documentary wisely widens its approach beyond the health and wellness focus, as we learn more of Johnson's background (growing up in the Mormon church) and how hi is working on his relationship with Talmage, his HS senior son who is getting ready to go to college. All that aside, as one scientist reminds us: what Johnson is doing is NOT science-based (there are no clinical trials of any of this), so take it for what it's worth (with a healthy level of skepticism). Last but not least: contrary to the IMDb listing (and elsewhere), the title of this documentary is not "Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever". Per the documentary's opening credits, it's simply called "Don't Die".

"Don't Die started streaming on Netflix just the other day, and Netflix suggested it to me based on my viewing habits. If you are curious about one man's quest to "not die" and instead "live forever", I'd readily suggest you check it out, and draw your own conclusion.