The Man from Earth

"He might be a man who lives outside of time as we know it." The 12 Angry Men of the modern age. The Man From Earth is a low budget sci-fi epic with no CGI or special effects, but don't worry, they're far from required here. The film is about a retiring college professor, John Oldman, who gathers with his friends and colleagues at his house for a farewell party. At the event, John reveals he is in fact 14,000 years old and hasn't aged past 35. What ensues is an intriguing, philosophical and incredibly engaging conversation about time, loss and faith itself. The film is obviously incredibly low budget, director Richard Schenkman (who had done nothing of note previous to this) was given 200,000 dollars to make this movie and it was definitely enough. The acting in the film is far beyond expectations for such a low budget project, with cult horror actor Tony Todd being the best. David Lee Smith also excels as Oldman and makes you wonder why his career never came to fruition. The direction here is quite poor and the camera quality is of the same level, but the outstanding and engaging dialogue, written by sci-fi icon Jerome Bixby (Star Trek, The Twilight Zone) on his deathbed, definitely makes up for it and beyond. It definitely makes you wonder what this film could have been on a larger budget and with better direction, but the indie style of the movie sort of adds to it. Even on a larger project, I wouldn't have changed David Lee Smith or Tony Todd and some of the other actors as they give incredibly convincing performances. Overall, The Man From Earth is one of the best films ever made that leaves you thinking way after the credits have rolled.