From Omeleto.
A man gets bad news.
THE SECOND OLDEST MAN ALIVE is used with permission from Jeremy Max. Learn more at https://jeremymax.co.
William is very old, cared for by his daughter and grandchildren, and he’s on an experimental medical treatment for a brain tumor. One day, his grandson shares a book of world records, and William discovers he’s about two months younger than the current oldest man alive.
William begins to decline, which means he has to be taken off the clinical trial for his tumor — which also means that his life will end soon. Faced with a grim fate, William decides to go for one final goal in the hopes of being remembered.
Directed by Jeremy Max from a script written by Ryan Delouya, this short thriller-drama explores the intersection of age, mortality and how we grapple with what we want to leave behind. Initially disguised as a meditatively paced character study, much like its surprisingly determined protagonist, it creeps via its sustained character focus into darker narrative territory — and then pulls the rug out from under the genre.
The storytelling follows its titular character as he grapples with mortality and legacy near the end of his life. At first, the pacing mirrors his pace: steady, measured, even deceptively calm, with a camera defined by its coolly composed eye and chilly color palette. We’re allowed to sit with the weight of William’s years, the slow undertow of his movement mirrored by the deliberate rhythm of the camera. As played by actor Gerry Bamman (who audiences may recognize as Uncle Frank from HOME ALONE), William is undeniably aged, but something that weighs upon him, miring him in despondency.
But when William gets confirmation that the end is nigh, he finds a renewed determination to pursue a new goal. As it turns out, loving family and memories aren’t enough. Beneath William’s sedate surface lurks a dark desire not to fade into obscurity, and he applies his renewed drive to fascinating and increasingly nefarious plans. The storytelling cleverly plays the character’s age — and Bamman’s layered performance — against audience expectations, challenging assumptions about capability and drive in later life. The tension mounts almost imperceptibly — until suddenly, we’re in a genre we didn’t see coming.
Absorbing, layered and chilling all at once, THE SECOND OLDEST MAN ALIVE is a film about the fear of death as a kind of oblivion — a fear of being forgotten once we’re gone, really. What seems like a simple portrait of aging transforms into an exploration of someone who does not want to go gently into his good night. By blending dark psychology with genre subversion, the film is a surprising, compellingly moody meditation on what it means to age in a world that only celebrates and commemorates the number-one slot.
