Maybe I’m strange, but the idea of a retirement home is pretty damn nice. Even though I’m decades away from that fate, having a place described as a luxurious, college-like atmosphere to live out my twilight years sounds…lovely. But if I’m to believe “Some Kind of Heaven,” the illusion is about to be destroyed.
READ MORE: 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch
As seen in the trailer for “Some Kind of Heaven,” a new documentary coming soon from director Lance Oppenheim, even one of the most revered and beautiful retirement communities has a seedy underbelly. And though it means my fantasy retirement life might be a sham, the trailer does paint the picture of one really fun, interesting documentary. So, you win some and you lose some, I suppose?
READ MORE: The Best Documentaries Of The Decade [the 2010s]
In addition to Oppenheim directing the film, “Some Kind of Heaven” has the seal of approval from Darren Aronofsky, who is one of the producers on the film alongside Kathleen Lingo, Melissa Oppenheim Lano, Pacho Velez, Jeffrey Soros, and Simon Horsman. If it’s good enough for Aronofsky, it’s good enough for me, at least for one viewing.
READ MORE: The 20 Best Documentaries Of 2018
“Some Kind of Heaven” will arrive in theaters and VOD on January 15, 2021. You can watch the new trailer below.
Here’s the (rather lengthy) synopsis:
SOME KIND OF HEAVEN explores life inside the palm-tree-lined streets of The Villages, America’s largest retirement community in Florida. Referred to as the “Disneyland for Retirees,” this planned community is home to over 130,000 seniors. It offers residents a utopian version of the American yesteryear: wide, safe streets, perfectly manicured lawns, and countless activities all in service of enjoying their golden years.
While most residents have bought into its packaged positivity, we meet four residents living on the margins, striving to find happiness. Married couple Anne and Reggie wrestle with Reggie’s deteriorating grip on reality, Barbara, a widow, seeks second love, and Dennis, an 82-year-old bachelor living out of a van, looks for a way out of a peripatetic existence.
By turns biting, tender, and surreal, the film demonstrates that no matter our age, we are always becoming. With strikingly composed cinematography, Some Kind of Heaven challenges our stereotypes around aging, emboldening its characters to live as vibrantly as possible in the time they have left.
