Movies about aging and the reversal of it always intrigue me. Looking into the concept of age only having numerical value and not meaning anything in the grand scheme of one’s time is always something I find interest in seeing the different perspectives on it. Henk Pretorius sets out to provide a new perspective on this and the premise of everlasting life with his film “Forever Young”. The movie chronicles Robyn (played by Diana Quick), an elderly writer who has grown comfortable in her time with her husband Oscar (played by Bernard Hill). After being approached by someone in Robyn’s past about writing a book, Robyn changes her mind when she sees the person, later mentioned to be her ex-Jim (played by Mark Jackson), has changed from being an old man to a younger version of himself. Being persuaded by his change, she takes interest into finding the secret to his eternal youth which is through a drug he created. She then, after running a blood test and testing the drug out on Jim’s daughter, takes the drug herself and transforms back to when she was in her 20’s. The drug causes for conversations on complacency of aging, how you use the time life gives you, and other things shown through the relationship dynamics of Robyn and Oscar.

I felt that the movie’s pacing at times was a bit slow, while it did guide the movie into giving intimate moments with each character, at times I felt that it would kind of quickly skip over certain things that I feel could’ve been expanded upon. One prime example of this is how there was a lot more ground covered when it comes to Robyn’s friend Jane (played by Stephanie Beacham) who was interested in getting plastic surgery to retain her youth but got nothing really in terms of real context for Jim’s daughter. Also, I wish there was a bit more of an open conversation with Robyn and Oscar about Robyn’s choice to take the drug as after she took it she then developed this on and off disdain for Oscar and him being ok with how he’s spent his life. The glimpse we got of it was when they were partly separated, but I feel like it could’ve gone a bit further. The cast did a good job at acting and delivering when it came to their performances. My favorites in the film had to be from young Robyn (played by Amy Tyger) and Oscar. Seeing the different viewpoints of aging through the characters was nice to help drive the plot along. While at times young Robyn was a bit static in her portrayal, I feel that she got her feelings on how her newfound youth feels in a nice way.

Overall, though the movie was a bit clunky in its storytelling at times, the acting and overall performances helped to deliver a fine movie that plays around with the ideas of being young forever. While it isn’t The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the movie does stand as its own and can end up being “Forever Young”.