September 24, 2026
FILM: THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
DIRECTED BY: SAM GREEN
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
My mother passed away six years ago this week just three days shy of her 89th birthday. My father died 57 years ago at the age of 43. How does that work? Why do some people live longer than others? Is there any secret to a long life? Those are some of the questions that documentarian Sam Green asks in his film The Oldest Person in the World. It’s a fascinating look at people who have lived well beyond the age of 110 and made it into the Guinness Book of Records for their longevity. Do we get any real answers? Not really. As one nun says, “it’s a mystery.”
Sam Green began this project in 2015 when he attended a birthday celebration for a woman affectionately known as Miss Susie in Brooklyn, New York. She was then the oldest person in the world at 116. The scene is interesting, in part, due to the media circus it became with cameras, lots of people and, of course, a cake. However, Miss Susie was asleep during most of it. She’d be shouted at but could barely lift her head, except to mumble “I love you all.”
From there Green travels around the world to Italy, Jamaica, Japan, and Spain to film each subsequent record holder that Guinness could identify. Each of these women (and they are women, no men…) has different variations in their life quality, although Green doesn’t really focus on that. Instead he gets answers from many of them about the forever asked question, what is the secret to a long life? The answers range from obvious to surprising. One woman says that we should avoid negativity and worrying. Another says to stay away from men! At least one seems somewhat motivated to become the oldest person to ever live.
The film isn’t necessarily revelatory but it does shed light and attention on people who have beaten the odds. Remember as a kid when you thought 40 was old? 60? 90? How often did we ever hear about or see someone over the age of 115? It seemed impossible. We’d also never think we’d hear someone of that age read a poem from the Bible or record something for a rap album but Green finds this seemingly rare breed of people.
What makes the film really work is the very personable and accessible voice over commentary by Green. He explores his subject like any of us would, with a lot of wonder and curiosity. Along the way he punctuates the story with the birth of his son and follows his early years growing up. He also explores his own health crisis and the early death of his brother. He makes the story something we all can relate to on some level.
One might want him to comment on quality of life, the media circus that surrounds these people, or more theories on aging a bit more, but then that would really be beside the point of the film. Why not just embrace the longevity on display?
Green says he’d love to continue the project and have his son carry it on. Perhaps this is the beginning of a story on aging that could last for multiple generations. I’d be all for that. We can document anything now. Someone must take this on!
The Oldest Person in the World is playing in limited theatrical release. It opens this week at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago with Sam Green appearing for a Q & A after screenings on September 25th and 26th.
FILM: THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
DIRECTED BY: SAM GREEN
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
My mother passed away six years ago this week just three days shy of her 89th birthday. My father died 57 years ago at the age of 43. How does that work? Why do some people live longer than others? Is there any secret to a long life? Those are some of the questions that documentarian Sam Green asks in his film The Oldest Person in the World. It’s a fascinating look at people who have lived well beyond the age of 110 and made it into the Guinness Book of Records for their longevity. Do we get any real answers? Not really. As one nun says, “it’s a mystery.”
Sam Green began this project in 2015 when he attended a birthday celebration for a woman affectionately known as Miss Susie in Brooklyn, New York. She was then the oldest person in the world at 116. The scene is interesting, in part, due to the media circus it became with cameras, lots of people and, of course, a cake. However, Miss Susie was asleep during most of it. She’d be shouted at but could barely lift her head, except to mumble “I love you all.”
From there Green travels around the world to Italy, Jamaica, Japan, and Spain to film each subsequent record holder that Guinness could identify. Each of these women (and they are women, no men…) has different variations in their life quality, although Green doesn’t really focus on that. Instead he gets answers from many of them about the forever asked question, what is the secret to a long life? The answers range from obvious to surprising. One woman says that we should avoid negativity and worrying. Another says to stay away from men! At least one seems somewhat motivated to become the oldest person to ever live.
The film isn’t necessarily revelatory but it does shed light and attention on people who have beaten the odds. Remember as a kid when you thought 40 was old? 60? 90? How often did we ever hear about or see someone over the age of 115? It seemed impossible. We’d also never think we’d hear someone of that age read a poem from the Bible or record something for a rap album but Green finds this seemingly rare breed of people.
What makes the film really work is the very personable and accessible voice over commentary by Green. He explores his subject like any of us would, with a lot of wonder and curiosity. Along the way he punctuates the story with the birth of his son and follows his early years growing up. He also explores his own health crisis and the early death of his brother. He makes the story something we all can relate to on some level.
One might want him to comment on quality of life, the media circus that surrounds these people, or more theories on aging a bit more, but then that would really be beside the point of the film. Why not just embrace the longevity on display?
Green says he’d love to continue the project and have his son carry it on. Perhaps this is the beginning of a story on aging that could last for multiple generations. I’d be all for that. We can document anything now. Someone must take this on!
The Oldest Person in the World is playing in limited theatrical release. It opens this week at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago with Sam Green appearing for a Q & A after screenings on September 25th and 26th.