83 mins |
Rated
G
Welcome to The Villages in central Florida, the largest retirement community in the world. Pitched as a literal fountain of youth complete with precision golf cart drills, pickleball rallies and singles mixers. It’s a chance for retirees to live the American Dream in their golden years, but debut director Lance Oppenheim’s quirky and insightful documentary picks beneath the surface to find that one person’s paradise can be another’s burden.
Married nearly 50 years, Anne and Reggie seem like a normal couple, but The Villages’ cookie-cutter lifestyle awakens Reggie’s rebelliousness, leading him to explore Eastern spiritualism and experiment in drug use. Meanwhile 81-year-old ladies’ man Dennis lives out of his van and must evade security as he searches for a “classic looking” widow to take him in. Barbara is looking for a more meaningful relationship after having recently lost the love of her life, but is a dashing golf cart salesman really the answer?
Taking inspiration from the photography of Larry Sultan and the Technicolor sheen of Douglas Sirk’s melodramas, Oppenheim opts for a vibrant visual style that accentuates the absurdity of this manufactured utopia. — Michael McDonnell NZIFF
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Welcome to The Villages in central Florida, the largest retirement community in the world. Pitched as a literal fountain of youth complete with precision golf cart drills, pickleball rallies and singles mixers. It’s a chance for retirees to live the American Dream in their golden years, but debut director Lance Oppenheim’s quirky and insightful documentary picks beneath the surface to find that one person’s paradise can be another’s burden.
Married nearly 50 years, Anne and Reggie seem like a normal couple, but The Villages’ cookie-cutter lifestyle awakens Reggie’s rebelliousness, leading him to explore Eastern spiritualism and experiment in drug use. Meanwhile 81-year-old ladies’ man Dennis lives out of his van and must evade security as he searches for a “classic looking” widow to take him in. Barbara is looking for a more meaningful relationship after having recently lost the love of her life, but is a dashing golf cart salesman really the answer?
Taking inspiration from the photography of Larry Sultan and the Technicolor sheen of Douglas Sirk’s melodramas, Oppenheim opts for a vibrant visual style that accentuates the absurdity of this manufactured utopia. — Michael McDonnell NZIFF