There’s a unique quality to the documentary The Oldest Person in the World that makes it feel like a constantly evolving piece of art. Director Zach Green initially became fascinated with supercentenarians through his interest in the Guinness Book of World Records (explored in his 2014 film, The Measure of All Things), and he began filming after discovering that Susannah Mushatt Jones, then the world’s oldest person, lived near him in Brooklyn. However, the film unexpectedly transformed into a deeply personal exploration of Green’s own life and mortality. During production, Green’s son, Atlas, was born, and he himself received a cancer diagnosis. As the film portrays visits with the world’s oldest people, we simultaneously witness Green’s declining health and his son’s growth. The project expands in surprising and unsettling ways, feeling as though it might never reach a definitive conclusion. We also learn about the 2009 suicide of Green’s brother, a painful event he struggles to discuss. Ultimately, the film isn’t just about the long lives of others; it’s a meditation on time itself—not the time these individuals have lived, but the fleeting and unpredictable nature of our own existence. Green poignantly observes that we are all, at one point, the youngest person in the world, a simple yet profound thought that highlights the wonder of being alive. It’s a reminder that while we all share that beginning, what comes next is uncertain.
