Just Watched the 1st and 2nd Back to Back. Full and Lengthy Review. Spoilers.

The Man From Earth.

(TLDR Version): rock solid, well worth the watch, great acting and story telling. Had me begging for more. 9.5/10.

Review. I absolutely loved The Man From Earth. The comments that call it a “Masterpiece” are not far off. Given it is a low budget movie taking place in largely the same room, it just goes to show how far solid acting and superb story telling can go. The main character portrays John Oldman, the 14,000 year old man superbly. The convorsation seems authentic, though there are moments where you can tell it is a low budget film. The questions and explanations that are asked and given by the characters seem so convincing, you almost believe the main character John Oldman may really exist.

The first movie takes place in a cabin, during a going away party for the main character John Oldman. John reveals to his close friends and colleagues that he is 14,000 years old and most of the movie are his friends and confidents trying to wrestle with that fact. The cast is predominantly middle aged men, a few women, and older adults. Making the setting mature and thoughtful as the adults are all professors from various fields at his university.

A great example of the authentic feel of the film is this when one character asks John where he was during a specific date in the 1200s, John responds by asking if she remembers what exactly she was doing at any specific date decades prior. The obvious answer is she doesn’t remember and neither does he. No one would remember something like that offhand which is a very human response. The off and on reaction from the group as they accept or reject Johns story, I feel mimics how any other rational person may react if they were in the same situation. That is true art in my opinion. Crafting a wonderful sci story that captures people minds because it just seems so real, yet mystical at the same time.

The critique that I do have is largely that you can tell it is a low budget film. There are moments where the acting is forced. There is a scene when one of the characters pulls a gun on John, being rather upset that John would go to such lengths to claim immortality while so many in the world have died. It is soon revealed that the character who pulled the gun had lost is wife the day before. I didn’t care for the scene. Though it does portray the skepticism and possible anger that close friends might feel when their trusted, charismatic, and reliable friend suddenly sounds like a mad man and sticks to it. The ending is solid. Leaving room to expand, though wrapping things up enough to where it could’ve easily stood on its own.

At about an hour and a half long, I highly recommend The Man From Earth to anyone. 9.5/10.

The Man From Earth: Holocene.

(TLDR Version) Stands well as a sequel. Didn’t quite capture all the magic of the original. Targets a younger audience. Worth a watch if you saw the first one. 7.5/10.

Full Review. In my opinion if you enjoyed the concept and the main actor in the original, you will still find those things done well in the second. While the first stood out phenomenally as an original standalone movie. The second, acts well as a sequel though you wouldn’t watch it on its own and find the same enjoyment. The 2nd movie takes place 10 years later where John Oldman now calls himself John Young and teaches at a different university under a new identity. John also comes to the realization that for the first time in 14,000 years, he has begun to age. Rather then the movie focusing on a room of adults asking tough intellectual questions, the movie follows four college students who are students of John’s.

The students discover Johns secret after reading a book published by someone who was with John in the previous movie and wrote a book about John’s life and story from that night. The students start to connect the dots, and come to believe Johns fantastical story after doing some research and calling people from his past to corroborate the information.

The acting isn’t quite as good and feels a little more like a teen drama. According to my research, the hope was that the sequel would turn in to a TV spin-off, which is fairly obvious at the end. Though if they kept it to one, MAYBE 2 seasons I think it could do well with.

The last third of the sequel is where it gets a little forced, rushed, and weird. The characters start acting erratic, like the movie is trying to take you somewhere it’s not meant to. While I’m not as critical as some, I certainly see why this is an issue. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have made a sequal, though the last third of it makes me wish they hadn’t bothered.

The ending is a cliffhanger, where an ominous FBI agent shows up at the door of the character who was in the first movie and wrote the book about John’s life. Then that’s it.

While the first movie is a flavorful, well written story, the second feels like a lengthy teen drama TV show.

That being said if you enjoyed the first then please enjoy the second. Just recognize it for what it is. Frankly, the story will stick with me forever as I thoroughly enjoy the concept and may decide to write my own version for the heck of it. 7.5/10. Though the high rating is simply because the first is so worth the watch.