'Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever' review: Netflix documentary on Bryan Johnson and his quest to live forever

The Silicon Valley tech bros have their share of quirks. Elon Musk plans to colonise Mars, and Jack Dorsey has his one-meal-a-day “wellness” plan, to name a few. 

Taking that to an extreme is Bryan Johnson. This tech millionaire, who made a fortune selling payments apps and first hit global headlines in 2023 following a Bloomberg article on how he, in his late 40s, spends $2 million a year to be 18 again, is now the focus of a newly released Netflix documentary -- Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever.

Eating while doing splits, having dinner by 11.30 am, sleeping by 8.30 pm, regular workouts, skin care treatments, and weekly MRIs are some of the conventional self-care steps he undertakes. His otherwise wacky, hyper-regimented, almost-robotic routine to reverse his body clock involves popping 130 pills a day, even rapamycin, an immunity-suppressant given during organ transplant, blood transfusions using his teen son as the “blood boy,” oxygen and light treatments, using an algorithm to decide what his body needs as “The conscious mind is desperate to hold on to power,” and even flying off to Honduras for experimental, yet-to-be-approved gene therapy.

“I am now officially a genetically advanced human,” Johnson says emphatically after getting the gene therapy. “He is the best guinea pig anyone can ask for,” comments his longevity consultant Dr. Oliver Zolman, who was not involved in the treatment.

As several experts weigh in on what Johnson is doing in his quest to evade death, Dr. Vadim Gladyshev, a professor of medicine at Harvard, seems to encapsulate it perfectly, saying: “It’s not science. It’s just attention.”

Whether attention, obsession, or narcissism, Johnson and the larger longevity community are interesting subjects for the documentary. However, the output doesn’t do justice to the theme, as director Chris Smith never delves deep into the mind of this visibly lonely man and what drives him to seek eternity.

While there are mentions of a rough childhood with a largely absent father, the disillusionment with the often-marred-in-controversies Mormon Church, a divorce that rendered him out-of-touch with two out of his three kids, and an affair that culminated into a lawsuit, it only goes thus far.

There was much to be delved into the psyche of a man who boasts of a huge social media following and regularly shares about his ‘Don’t Die,’ campaign and his health company Blueprint, but the director only scratches the surface.

The documentary culminates with many people joining Johnson’s ‘Don’t Die’ campaign, and the experts softening their critique, which only feels like agreeing with a lifestyle that doesn’t have scientific merit.

“Am I starting a cult?” asks Johnson at one point. “Yes,” his son Talmage, who, too, starts following his father’s lifestyle at one point, replies.

This documentary had everything – a gripping premise, an unconventional but accessible subject, science, technology, and a wacky lifestyle. Yet, the person and his psyche that would have made for a solid final product, feel missing.