Parents' Guide to Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever

For many, this documentary about Bryan Johnson will be worth watching even though he's self-obsessed, wealthy, and privileged. For others, Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever will become too aggrandizing and in awe of its subject. Ultimately unable to maintain profiling Johnson objectively, this documentary becomes an advertisement for Johnson and his brand and company, Blueprint. Johnson is clearly a fascinating individual and is naturally charismatic, even if also clearly self-obsessed. But the film halfway in becomes a kind of laundry list of Johnson's life, which then meaninglessly drifts into an arc about sending his son off to college. It's almost as if Johnson performs a kind of sleight of hand by diverting focus away from the many ethical questions his endeavor prompts and toward his father-son narrative. The documentary might have done better to resist this diversion, as it produces an anticlimactic and ho-hum finish.

Whether he's an inspiration, a fraud, or just an odd rich White guy trying to live forever, how people view Johnson will vary. Johnson will likely divide opinion as well regarding whether it matters if he's earnest if he's still helping people better their lives and live healthier lifestyles. If Johnson were to stumble upon something that does eventually help many people, will it have been worth it? If living like Johnson is what it would take to live longer, is it even worth it?