The Man From Earth stays in one room

One of my favorite things about Netflix is, it predicts how much you'll like a movie based on what other movies you have watched and rated. Yesterday I was looking for something to watch and I looked at what's in my instant queue. The Man From Earth was sitting there with five red stars next to the title.

Netflix's prediction was right—I loved it.

(Spoilers ahead.)

Quick summary of the plot

Professor John Oldman surprises his friends and colleagues by his unexpected decision to leave the university and move away. They come over to his house for a last-minute goodbye party and he reveals to them that he's actually 14,000 years old. He stopped aging at about age 35 and he moves every 10 years or so, when people start to notice that he's not getting older. He's lived through major shifts in civilization, wars, and plagues. The entire movie is the conversation he has with his friends. He explains parts of his life, they ask him questions, and they try to figure out if he's telling the truth or making it all up.

This is why I loved it:

1. Bottle movie

The whole movie takes place in John's house, mostly in his living room. The simplicity makes me pay attention to the characters more, and staying in one room for an hour and a half means the dialogue and the characters are doing all the work. No room for fancy cuts, car chases, explosions, or special effects. You have to focus on the people, much like what happens in 12 Angry Men and bottle episodes on TV.

2. Scholarly discussion 

All the people in the room are professors (and one student). They cover history, archeology, anthropology, biology, religion, and psychology. The conversation reflects their academic interests, and the scenes play out like an intellecutual game. They're playing with an idea: if someone were to live for 14,000 years, what would that person be like? Each person in the room asks questions and weighs in from his or her academic viewpoint.

3. Mind game

The characters waver back and forth in believing John. John can answer all their questions with thoughtful, detailed answers, but he can't offer any proof besides his words. Some points of their conversation go to far for some of the characters while other characters want to hear even more about John's life. It isn't so much a mind game between the audience and the movie because we're just sitting in on the conversation. We can't participate. But we watch the characters figure out where they stand and what they believe.

I recommend watching The Man From Earth if you like movies with good discussion. It's technically a sci-fi film, but it plays out more like a psychological mystery. You spend the time watching a group of smart people play with an interesting idea.