Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live forever, no aging, no goodbyes – just witnessing history taking its sweet time? Sounds tempting, but think about it in what ways it would mess with who you are, your relationships, and what you think is right or wrong.
There are tonnes of films that have tackled these mind-boggling questions. In this article, we’ll be listing some of the best films on immortality. We’ll be including movies where characters willingly chase everlasting life using magic, science, or potions, and also the ones where these poor souls don’t have a choice.
Stardust
In Stardust, the heart of the story beats around a young man named Tristan, who travels to a magical world to find a fallen star for his lover. What Tristan doesn’t know is that the star he’s looking for is a celestial being called Yvaine.
Along the way, he crosses paths with aging who wants to become young and beautiful, and a group of princes competes for the throne, all wanting Yvaine’s heart for eternal youth. As the film goes on, we find that Tristan himself has some old connections with the magical world.
The Old Guard
In The Old Guard, we follow a team of undying mercenaries led by Andromache of Scythia, also known as Andy. With centuries-old combat experience, they want to use their unique abilities to improve the world. But why they can’t die?
Their immortality stems from a genetic abnormality, but they face danger when some powerful people come to know about their power. These pharmaceutical executives want to exploit Andy and their friends’ gift to add a few more zeros to their checking account balance.
The Age of Adaline
The Age of Adaline sees Adaline Bowman, who mysteriously halts the aging process after a car accident. Adaline fears unwanted attention and thus starts to lead a solitary life, always changing identities so that people don’t catch on to her secret.
Adaline just wants one thing: a simple, unremarkable life. Over the decades, she protects her secret until she meets Ellis, a man with a connection to Adaline’s past. Blake Lively’s performance as Adaline Bowman is absolutely fantastic.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
As the name gives it away, The Picture of Dorian Gray is about Dorian Gray, who wants to stay forever young by magically aging his portrait instead, and thus makes a deal with an artist, Basil Hallward. But the deal is not without its catch- Dorian can do whatever he wants without consequences while his portrait takes a beating from his wild ways.
The more Dorian chases eternal youth, the more complicated things become. Based on Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece, the film talks about people’s obsession with looks, not knowing the consequences and the price you pay to remain young forever.
Groundhog Day
The most interesting pick on this list: Groundhog Day follows a weatherman named Phil Connors, who finds himself reliving the same day over and over. At first upset, Phil later finds that he’s stuck in a time loop and can’t get out.
The only way to break free is for Phil to better himself and mend his connections with other people. Although it’s built on a rather cliched concept, the film does a fantastic job of delivering it. The script is simple and attempts to convey a handful of clear, concise values that should be agreed upon by everybody.
Highlander
Highlander is about Connor MacLeod, a Scottish man living in modern-day New York. But Connor isn’t a normal man, but someone who can’t ever die. The only way Immortals like him can bite the dust is if their heads are chopped off in a duel.
The last one standing gets ultimate wisdom and the gift of death. Connor, curious about what’s beyond, picks up his sword against Kurgan in a never-ending battle. As the story goes on, you get to see what happens when you can’t die and are after The Prize.
Death Becomes Her
Death Becomes Her brings us face-to-face with Madeline and Helen, two rivals who are getting older and worried about losing their looks. They toss some ingredients here and there and brew a magical potion to stay forever young and never run out of juice (lifespan). But like all the good things, this, too, doesn’t last forever.
As time goes on, the story gets darkly funny, and we see all kinds of unexpected problems that come with trying to live forever. With tones of funny moments and weird situations, Death Becomes Her is one humorous ride with a lesson about the not-so-cheap cost of never aging.
Immortal Beloved
This one doesn’t exactly fit the bill, but that doesn’t make it less deserving to be on the list. Immortal Beloved takes us deep into the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, the musical genius whose music immortalized him in history. Never to be forgotten, if you catch our drift.
In this film, Beethoven’s secretary, Anton Schindler, goes on a mission to find the real identity of Beethoven’s mysterious and unnamed immortal beloved. Throughout the 2-hour, 1-minute runtime, we see Schindler meeting various women from Beethoven’s past. The film is an absolute masterpiece, showing why he was called the tortured genius.
Tuck Everlasting
Tuck Everlasting tells the story of Winnie Foster, who stumbles upon the Tuck family’s extraordinary secret. Winnie finds out she can stay forever young by drinking water from a magical spring. The Tucks pour their heart out to Winnie, telling her their stories and the ups and downs of living forever.
They ask Winnie to keep their secret safe. On the other hand, Winnie has to decide whether to take a sip from the spring or live a regular life and die one day. The film talks about life and death, the natural cycle of things, and how living forever is more of a curse than a blessing.
The Man from Earth
In The Man from Earth, John Oldman, a college professor, drops a bomb on his colleagues, saying he has been around for 14,000 years and has seen it all, from the rise and fall of the Roman empire to the making of the Empire State Building. As the film goes on, John talks about how he came to be immortal after a really old encounter.
The film plays out in a single room, with John’s friends, both skeptical and fascinated, trying to make sense of what John has just told them. There aren’t enough words to describe how much I loved this film! From a plot standpoint, the idea of timeless life takes a while to sink in, but once it does, the film is impossible to put down.
There we have it, our list of 10 best movies about immortality. What do you think about our picks? Did one of your favourites make the list? Let us know in the comments below!