Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever (Movie Review)

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever is a Netflix documentary that was released on the 1st of January, 2025. Directed by Chris Smith, it follows the life of tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson and his ambitious quest to defy aging using “Project Blueprint”; a regimen designed to reverse the aging process. This involves consuming over 100 pills daily, adhering to a rigorous diet, and undergoing various treatments, including controversial practices like blood plasma transfusions from his teenage son.

Premise

“Talent is the ability to hit a target no one else can. Genius can hit a target no one else can see.”

We are introduced to Bryan Johnson, a 47-year-old multi-millionaire who made his riches by selling his company “Braintree” to PayPal for 800 Million USD, and lives alone in Los Angeles, California.

He starts off with a monologue about how humans should not accept the mortality of life and finality of aging and death, how he believes that humanity as it is now has not done enough to understand and control the possibility of extended life and immortality, and thus how he has selected himself to be the ultimate test subject for such an experimental endeavor.

Of course, he is met with backlash and opposition from majority of the known world. People claiming that he is trying to play God, people wishing he would die in mundane ways such as a car accident or other external factors.

Then we are introduced to Oliver Zolman, a researcher on human longevity who Bryan contacts as a guide on this expedition. Oliver explains that Bryan was “lost” and was mostly flaying about randomly with the experiment until Oliver introduces him to “Project Blueprint”, a three step structured regimen that he believes will reverse his biological age and ultimately extend his life span. This includes everything from basics such as diet and exercise to extremes such as Gene Therapy and other scientific modifications. He says that Bryan has been a great ‘guinea pig’ as Project Blueprint is experimental for the most part.

We are taken through Bryan’s daily routine. He wakes up at approximately 4A.M., and is exposed to a special light that imitates sun rays, then he works out for an hour (35 exercises), and then it’s time for his pills.

He takes 57 different pills. And another drink concoction that he names “the Green Giant.”

His breakfast, and general diet, is purely vegan. Then he undergoes multiple procedures such as Red Light Therapy, Electromagnetic Stimulation, Audio Therapy among many others. Then he has his last meal for the day before 11am, 34 more pills to take, various other exercises during the day and then goes to bed at 8pm sharp.

Bryan enlists the help of Kate Tolo and Ashlee Vance to help publicize his journey to the world through different forms of media. Both of whom have their own stories about how they lived before meeting Bryan and how his journey has changed their lives and perspectives.

With their help, Bryan blows up on the news and social media, leading to widespread speculation, doubt and subsequently negative attention and hate. He becomes a topic of major controversy with a few being convinced and ‘converted’ to his ideology.

Then we are introduced to Bryan’s son, Talmage Johnson, who’s been living with him all through his senior year. They share a very close bond and Bryan expresses how sad and bittersweet he feels about Talmage leaving him for college soon.

We are then taken to Bryan’s past. His parents tell us about his childhood, teenage years, how he had taken a job but then soon quit, vowing never to be an employee again, becoming an entrepreneur and eventually, a multimillionaire.

Bryan grew up in the Mormon church, but due to extreme depression and other factors including internal conflict, he eventually grew apart and left. This caused a friction with his then wife which led to a divorce and separation from his kids. However, Talmage is also having his own problems with the church, hence why he moved in with his dad and why they have such a close relationship.

We are then brought back to the present, where they have moved on to the next stage of Blueprint; Gene Therapy. This includes modifying Bryan’s genes by infusing it with other ‘optimal’ gene samples and the Human Growth Hormone.

At this point, Bryan is taking up to 130 pills and supplements per day.

Then we see a side project of Bryan exchanging blood plasma with Talmage and Talmage’s grandfather (Bryan’s dad).

A quick flashback reveals that Bryan’s dad left the Mormon church too.

Talmage then heads off to college, and Bryan reflects on his love life (or lack thereof). He tells us about his one and only girlfriend after his divorce; a relationship that ended and quickly became another controversy.

Then we see how Bryan attempted to sell some of the products he uses in project Blueprint, leading to intense backlash from media influencers and the general public as they come to the conclusion that his entire journey was just a marketing scheme to gain monetary profits. However, it also reveals that he has created a sort of cult following (he refers to it as a new ‘religion’).

He is happy with where he is right now.

My Thoughts

To be incredibly honest, I can’t really say what I liked and disliked about this documentary. This is because I’m not sure how I feel about it. I will say that it was filmed well and does a great job of telling a clear story, capturing moments of Bryan’s life and journey in somewhat chronological order. However, I’ll admit that I am not fully convinced about the success and validity of this experiment. I do like the fact that the documentary featured interviews from both supporters and critics of the Project. It allows viewers a sort of neutral ground to form their own opinions and avoids looking like a propaganda item for what I predict might actually grow into a cult (Bryan once tweeted: “What Jesus couldn’t accomplish in 2000 years, I accomplished in 2.”).

I will also say that I learned a lot from this movie. Despite his questionable thought process, Bryan does raise some interesting points that one would need to ponder on during and after the course of the film.

For example, he claims that the human mind is the engineer of humanity’s most self-destructive behaviors.

“The Mind is Dead.”

According to him, the human mind is constantly being overstimulated and subsequently conditioned to create its own addictions; fast food, sugary drinks, media, alcohol, smoking, binge watching, pornography, etc. Every second is spent on an algorithm. Overconsumption is eating away at our collective lifespan.

His solution for this? “Erase the Mind.” (Which, of course, probes more backlash from the public). He claims that most of these destructive behaviors, thoughts and emotions come from the mind’s need to constantly prove its “free will” and consciousness, thus engaging in more stimulations. So we need to stop listening to the voices in our heads and focus on our bodies, because and I quote: “My liver won’t tell me to kill myself”.

Questionable…but intriguing.

Overall, I think this is a great film to watch if you are seeking to learn about the limits of the human body and/or if you are curious about the science that goes into longevity and extending the human lifespan. But realistically, I remain skeptical of the message and journey it narrates.