Don't Die : L'homme qui voulait être éternel

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.

This is an interesting documentary, as much as it's interesting to watch someone unhealthily obsess over any part of their lives.

There are two key differences between this and a generic reality TV show you'd find on cable television: the first is that the subject of this documentary is selling products based on the brand described in the documentary, which is to say that he sells pseudo-science miracle cures for aging to impressionable people and uses this documentary to promote that; the second is that he is incredibly rich.

Bryan Johnson is another influencer that people errantly idolize. He started all of his venture capital companies with other partners, and he and his partners purchased--they did not found, nor create, but they bought out--Venmo, which made them nearly all of their money. Us Americans tend to distill one great feat of capitalism down to a single person, as if it's possible for all of us to become that person. Steve Jobs did not create the computer, Elon Musk did not create Tesla, Thomas Edison did not discover electricity, and George Washington didn't write the Declaration of Independence, but people like to think they did because making it big is what we're taught to idolize.

Bryan has written children's books about living forever using the pseudo-science presented in this documentary. The concept of scientific study means you need to be able to demonstrate verifiable, reproduceable results for your theorem before it can become factual. Taking hormones, going through plasma transfusions, and the myriad other ways that Bryan claims to be extending his life are without basis in scientific fact and may actually be harmful to others. Bryan also forgets that GENETICS are the largest factor in life expectancy, and anything he does will only increase the likelihood that he lives as long as maximum longevity as determined by GENETICS. To sell treatments that claim otherwise is akin to peddling snake oil.

This documentary was extremely interesting insofar as it brings light to someone who suffers from mental health issues. A large number of people fear death, but Bryan takes his pursuit to an extreme that is debatably unhealthy for anyone. He exhibits obsessive-compulsive behaviors and follows such a strict regimen as to make his daily life look intolerable and unsustainable for anyone with a sound mind.

His depression and Fear Of Missing Out are both saddening. He devotes so much time and money to futile and sometimes fruitless endeavors to make himself live forever, when he could be using that time and money to enjoy his life more.

No living organism has ever truly been actively alive forever (tardigrade cryptobiosis doesn't count as being actively alive). The REAL way to live forever is to develop a LEGACY that perpetuates after your death. The IDEA of Bryan Johnson could achieve immortality if he used his money to help cure cancer, end homelessness, and so on. This is the immortality that many people before him have realized.

If there's anything I got from this movie, it's this: I worry that Bryan will waste the remainder of his life seeking something that cannot be obtained. He will have regrets as he dies. The most unfortunate part is that he is an INFLUENCER. The idea of living forever is APPEALING TO MANY, and thus many people will buy into his philosophies and miracle drugs, only to be led astray. Even if Bryan genuinely believes he is helping people, I fear that promoting treatments that are not scientifically backed on such a wide scale will only cause more harm than good.

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.

I found this documentary interesting enough and valuable in that it fleshed out the life and times of a public figure that I had only known through derisive online content about his plasma transfusions with his son.

The production quality was good and I felt as though there was an earnest attempt to approach the subject matter in an even-handed fashion, as a good documentary should.

The problem for me is that it actually fails in that attempt and ends up feeling like an advertisement for the delusions of a deeply wounded and narcissistic person. This documentary fell short in critically examining who Bryan is and why he is doing what he does.

My brother spells his name Brian. I feel same way about our subject. It's too much. I've listened to several podcasts about him - one with Dania says he has the last meal by 2:30 PM or around there. He takes all these vitamins, works out, avoids sun, eats a spartan diet, gets gene therapy and many aesthetic procedures, etc. The list goes on. He was never clear on his hair which is obviously colored so he hasn't nailed that anti aging remedy.

At one point he compared himself to Jesus. Please don't and I suggest you visit Luries child cancer ward and let the parents know if only they would take vitamin supplements and eat healthy their kids would be fine. You would quickly realize your ideas only work on already healthy people. You live in a bubble and that comment really showed that. You need to live beyond the borders of your house and the meet ups you coordinate.

It's nice you're close to your Son. It appears the only relationships you've kept are with those who "get" you. Real life doesn't have that luxury. I suppose if we were very rich we could do that too which would lower stress. But would we be living? You have not given proof that your life is as fulfilling as those outside the bubble. And the obvious swapping of a rigid religious belief system for a healthy belief system? Madonna already did that!

Good luck to the next lucky girl. Bed by 8, last meal by 2, no beach, all hail darkness. Bryan missed his chance to star in Twilight. Or interview with a vampire!