Original subtitles

Switch it on. Switch it on...

Impose your will on the sea.

He's at 145.

This is double his heart rate.

Over the past year,

I've been exploring the science of living longer.

Doing everything I can to hold back time.

But whatever I do, sooner or later, aging and death will win.

So, what am I going to do about that?

You're gonna tie me up.

This wasn't... this wasn't in the initial contract.

Super attractive.

Okay, Chris. We are gonna attach the weights to it.

Apparently, this is what I'm going to do about it.

This fashion disaster is what's called an age simulation suit.

Designed at MIT,

it's been precisely calibrated to my physique.

The bungees restrict my movements.

And I'll be carrying an extra 30 pounds around with me.

And these shoes will make me unbalanced.

I'm doing all this, so that I can experience

how my body will feel in 50 years' time.

I'm really curious to see how you look at 87.

And my wife, Elsa, is a little too interested.

Hey, you're into this suit, aren't you? This is...

- Just leave it like that. - I can wear this on date night.

"No, no, no, don't put the fireman suit on.

- Put the... the aging suit on." - Exactly! Put the aging suit...

Counterintuitively, longevity scientists

actually believe that a key

to the longest, healthiest life might not be to resist aging,

but to embrace it.

You're gonna lose your hearing.

You look ridiculous.

So, I'm finishing my fight to stay young, by learning how to get old.

You're gonna lose a little bit of your vision.

This sucks, by the way.

Okay, Chris.

Brutal.

- How you feeling? - Old.

Okay, rolling through. Rolling.

All on the rehearsal.

All I've been told

is that I'm about to jump forward 50 years into the future

and spend the next three days living the life of an octogenarian.

Move to reception, thank you.

The architect of this strange challenge

is Dr. BJ Miller.

A world-renowned palliative care physician.

His work centers on unlocking the transformative power

of accepting aging and death.

Dying offers us something,

we can change how we see it, what we do with it, how we play with it.

Chris is about to take part in a truly unique experiment.

Ready, my old man?

I don't know. I mean, ask me in three days' time, maybe.

We are doing something bold and novel here.

We're going to combine the arts and sciences

to create a completely immersive world for Chris.

It's a constructed world of a retirement community.

And then, at the end of three days at Sunset Pines...

we're going to kill Chris Hemsworth.

Slow down! Why are you driving so fast?

It's okay. We'll get there.

Maybe you should let me drive.

No way!

I can't see or hear anything.

Welcome to Sunset Pines.

This is my new home, huh?

New best friend.

So, finally, here we are. And this is what I've been waiting for.

This is my opportunity to beat aging.

Hello.

How hard that can be?

Chris doesn't seem very worried, but I think he's underestimated old age.

I think he's going to probably want to get out of there as soon as he can.

This is it.

Okay.

- Elsa. - Hey. Can you see me?

Where we going?

- Oh, look at this. Hello. Hello. - How are ya?

Chris. Pleasure, buddy.

Nice to meet you.

I'm BJ. How's the suit feeling, my guy?

A little heavy and slower than I used to be, but...

- Right on. That's the idea. - That the idea.

So, that's the first part of this immersion.

The second part is... is this place.

- Yeah. - Sunset Pines.

So, it's a retirement village made just for you.

All right.

This is a three-day piece of immersive theater.

It's going to be a little bit surreal.

But there's something very real about surreal.

Yay!

All the older people that he's meeting along the way are entirely real.

And they're there for Chris to interact with

and to befriend and to relate with.

But the staff of Sunset Pines, the carers are actors.

They are going to treat Chris as though he is an 87-year-old.

They will not break character.

Apologies for the interruption, Dr. Miller. Welcome,

Mr. Hemsworth, to Sunset Pines, where we live every day to the fullest.

My name is Sofia. I'm one of the carers here.

I'm going to take you in for orientation.

So, I'd like to ask you to say your goodbyes now.

- See you later. - See you later.

All right.

Now, are you happy to walk or would you like a chair?

- Yeah, I'm okay to walk. - Okay, no problem.

Now, it can be a little bit of an adjustment period

here at Sunset Pines.

So, it's totally normal to feel a little bit

out of place at first, but I can assure you,

our community are very welcoming and supportive.

There is a handrail there. I'll just ask you to use that.

Yep, that's it. All right. Are you okay?

- I'm good, thanks. - Yeah?

Hey!

- Joy is gonna get you all checked in. - All right.

And then you'll be shown up to your apartment.

I mean, this is a wild experience.

I'm kind of trying to piece it together as I go, but it's...

It's just kind of weird.

- Hi, Joy. - Hello.

This is Mr. Hemsworth. He's one of our newest residents.

Hello, Mr. Hemsworth.

Welcome to Sunset Pines where we live every day to the fullest.

- Cool. - So, I'll... I'll put you into our system.

So, if you can just give me a moment.

All right, so, I would just need this...

Wearing the suit, it's just horrible, really uncomfortable.

Everything is heavy.

And I find myself feeling very restricted.

And then, you know, the lack of vision, hearing,

I find myself missing 20 to 30 percent of what's being said.

I just need you to look directly at the lens, please. All done.

It feels really isolating because everything is,

you know, feels somewhat closed off.

How you doing?

What was that?

- How you doing? - I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

- I'm feeling a little disorientated. - Right.

Can't really see properly or hear properly.

- Well, that's exactly the idea, right? - Okay.

A big part of the reason to give him this experience

is we are living amidst an epidemic of denial that we are denying aging,

older age and we are denying death. It's a kind of stress.

It's bad for our blood pressure, it's bad for our hormonal lives,

it's bad for our neurochemistry.

In... in this way, there's a physiologic effect directly

on our bodies. And this stress can shorten a life.

Increasingly we are seeing multiple peer-reviewed studies

that suggest that if we can actually embrace that reality,

if you can find a way to accept it and to accommodate being older

that you'll be happier, less depressed, and maybe you'll actually live longer,

and not by just a day or two but years... years longer, potentially.

- Yeah. - Wow.

Make sense?

Okay, looks like you're ready.

We have your ID printed out.

So, if you can just double-check that all your details are correct,

date of birth and spelling of your name.

Yeah, the spelling is all right. I don't know about that photo.

What happened to me?

That's you, brother. That beautiful old man.

- Wow. - Well.

It's been a rough 50 years.

Do you need help putting on that lanyard?

I'm just gonna fit it over my giant head. There we go.

Yes!

There we are.

It's official. You are a new resident. Michael.

Mr. Hemsworth, how you doing? I'm Michael. I'm a carer here.

- How are ya? - Welcome to Sunset Pines.

- Thank you. - Where we live...

Where we live every day to the fullest.

Great ID photo, man.

- Thanks. - Where we going?

- Apartment nine, spruce. - Spruce.

- Spruce, eh? - They're nice suites, dude.

So, over the next few days, we are going to leap Chris forward

50 years and introduce him to an accelerated version of aging.

You like croquet?

- Nah, not really. - Oh, fair enough.

So, he can have a little bit of a taste of not just as an idea

but a visceral way, he can touch what it feels like

to be an elder and he can begin to touch what it feels like

to be at the edge of life and at the end of life.

Hang on, Fred.

And things are only going to get weirder from here.

Never.

Watch out, ladies. Fresh meat coming through.

- Good morning. - Come on, Chris.

All right, mate. It's a great environment here.

It's really friendly.

- All right. Welcome. - Thank you.

- How are you, Fran? - I'm ready to go.

We'll circle back and say hi later.

Keep away from that woman, okay?

- Yeah. - She's a deadly card player.

Oh, I'm not much of a card player, so I'll stay away.

Keep away from her then. Ian, how you doing?

- Hello. How are you? - Hello, welcome.

You can pretty much roam wherever you want here.

Apart from that there. You don't need to worry about that.

- That's off limits. - Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, but, this is it. Your home now, okay?

- Here I am. - That's you.

Huh, what do you think of this?

Wow.

Take a trip down memory lane.

I got old quick.

My older brother looks the youngest.

That's, uh... That's crazy.

Joy mentioned you used to do some acting.

Yeah. I don't think I'd be doing it till my hair looks like that.

I thought it was like local theater, but like...

- Mostly local theater. - Nice job.

We got your books there as well. So...

Thorever!

Your wife dropped off some of the other stuff as well.

So, we just want to make it feel like a home to you.

So, looking around,

does this feel all right to you?

Feel like it could be home?

I think it feels a little lonely, doesn't it?

Yeah?

It feels a bit like a hospital, you know?

Yeah.

It's...

Everything up until this point has felt like theater.

It has been quite fun...

and then when I find myself in my room,

it kind of begins to hit home a bit more

and has a bit more weight to it.

Yeah, interesting.

Chris, I'm gonna chuck this bag down, all right,

and then we're gonna move on to meet Gary, all right?

He's you're moving buddy.

- Yeah. - Okay.

He's gonna show you awesome activities. He's a nice guy, a master of Tai Chi.

- Cool. - Yeah.

Gary's a bit of a legend around here.

So, be careful if he challenges you in anything.

Oh, yeah. I've got a bit of a competitive spirit myself.

Gary. How you doing?

- Oh, good. Thanks. - It's your new neighbor. It's Christopher.

- Hello. - Oh, hi, Chris. Welcome to Sunset Pine.

- Oh, thank you. - This is the paradise for retirement.

Is it?

What... What's the best thing around here to do?

Ah! We have that traditional bingo.

- Bingo? - Bingo!

- All right. - Yeah.

Bit of a workout for the mind.

Bingo is not as... Not as physically challenging.

Then, if you like, we do have a ping-pong, you know, or workout in the gym.

- Yeah. - And also, aerobic classes.

Terrific.

- Would you like to join it? - I'd love to.

Come this way. Whoa, watch your steps, okay?

Okay, guys, how are we feeling, good?

Are we ready to get started?

Yes! Our aerobics class. Oh, here's Gary. Come in.

Oh, Chris, this way.

Oh, and he's got our new resident here with us. Hello, Chris. Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you. - How you doing?

The scientists at MIT who developed this suit,

have observed the people who wear it, tend to go through three distinct phases.

The first being denial, essentially, that they fight the suit.

Okay. Guys, we're gonna start with a big, deep breath in, legs apart.

Breathe in.

So, now we're handing Chris an opportunity to fight his suit.

We're offering him a chance to beat aging...

...sort of.

Right. Left. Right. Good movement. Yes, get that whole body going.

Yes!

So, add the hands. Yes! Bit of drama.

Like we're at the nightclubs.

Come on, back in the day, you know what I mean.

Yeah, back in the day. Feels like yesterday.

All right. Let's do the hips.

We're gonna go back and thrust.

Back and thrust.

Look at Gary. He's killing it.

Come on.

Are you okay there, Chris? You need to sit out?

- Nah, I'm doing good. - You're all good? Okay.

- Chris, are you ready? - Yeah, yeah. Come on.

Okay. Here it comes.

Come on, old man.

Something wrong with the bat, I think.

- That's what they always say. - Stop talking.

The aging suit is brutal.

Affects my movement in a lot of ways. And it's bloody exhausting.

- Sunset Pines. Sunset Pines. - Sunset Pines.

Come on, Chris, say Pines.

And I'm trying to muscle through it, but...

I'm just sort of wearing myself out.

And... I find myself losing the battle.

No way, Chris, you're giving up already?

- Shut up, Gary. - Oh, look at that.

This is a lot more difficult than I thought it was gonna be.

- Sunset Pines. Sunset Pines. - That's enough Sunset Pines already.

Let's breathe out.

And that's just our warm-up, guys.

- Amazing! - What?

You've got it in you, Chris. How you feeling?

I'm gonna take a seat for a second.

Chris is just gonna sit this one out. All good. Step together. Tap. Tap.

Tap and step together. Tap...

The aging suit makes me feel pretty nervous about the future.

I guess what scares me

is the deterioration of... of physical capabilities.

Not being mobile, not being able to play with my grandkids,

not being able to surf, not being able to be active.

All the things I love to do.

Could be incredibly challenging but also scary, I'm sure.

Great work today, guys, thank you so much. See you next time.

Good session.

You all right there, Chris?

- Good. Thank you. - No worries. Take your time, okay?

- Hey, bud. - Hey.

I just wanna check in at the end of a... a long day, I'd imagine.

Yeah, very long day. I feel like I've had an intense workout.

- Well, we're not getting any younger. - Yeah.

So, Gary, I thought it'd be really helpful if you shared with Chris

some of your background, story of your younger self.

Well, when I was younger, I used to be, you know, quite fit.

When I was very active and very physical.

Yeah.

You know. And my favorite was in kung fu.

It became a huge part of my life, my identity.

I was really good at it, winning lots of awards and titles.

I was, at one stage, even awarded a black belt by the Shaolin Temple.

It was really, really something.

And then one day, I had an accident, you know, in the training.

I went too hard and practically smashed my knee.

As I got older, my body just never felt the same again.

I could never be what I used to be.

When you're young, we always think that we are super or Superman,

that we will live forever.

We never give a thought that as you age,

you start to realize that different parts of the body may start breaking down.

But the truth is,

you will grow old

and your body will fail.

So, gradually, you know, you sort of have to accept...

- Yeah. - ...the situation.

And that's when Tai Chi came in.

One morning when I was out walking,

I saw a group of elderly people doing this slow-motion type of exercise.

And the balance that they have,

you know, the flexibility and the grace got me really curious.

I saw something that I could relate to.

An opportunity...

And so, I started to learn Tai Chi.

And I did it more and more.

And as I learn about this, you know, I found a new way

of connecting to my physicality, you know?

And so, this taught me a lot of things and a new way of looking and of living.

You know. And maybe that is something that might be useful to you.

One of the cruelties we do to each other is we consider aging a failure,

that our body's failing us.

No. No, that's just the way we see it.

Even as our body is maybe weakening, it's opening up something else.

And this may be part of us is getting smaller,

there's this room for us to get bigger in some other way.

That's when humans really shine, as we come up against the limit.

- Exactly. Yeah. - It's a gift in a way, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, it's a kind of revelation

that once you learn to accept things

for what it is,

you actually find something even deeper and more valuable.

A lot of what you're saying, you know, rings true to me,

and it... and it makes you think this is not a bad kind of...

How to... how to reframe that and how to... how to adjust to it.

How about, let's go and try out some Tai Chi moves?

- Sounds good. - Okay.

Well, I hope that by listening to my experience,

Chris will learn that there are ways

that you can continue to live the life that you want to.

You can actually expand yourself.

So, you actually discover a deeper understanding of the body.

It was great talking to Gary.

Makes me realize that, you know, my approach to the aging suit

shouldn't be to try and beat it. Should be to adapt and evolve with it.

All right, so day one down. Sunset Pines Retirement Village.

Officially retired and feeling pretty old after wearing that suit all day,

pretty restrictive.

I started to get kind of irritated, especially when people were talking to me

the way that I guess a lot of us talk to elderly people,

which is that sort of, you know, speaking very clear and "hello."

And there's almost this kind of patronizing sort of tone to it.

So, I hope I don't do that when I speak to elderly people.

Now, I've got to get comfortable in this room here.

We've got a massive bed here which looks like something

one of my kids would sleep in. What else we got in here?

Not much, this is it. It's a little bit like a prison.

Yeah, good night.

Good morning, residents.

It's another beautiful day here at Sunset Pines

where we live every day to the fullest. Lots of fun activities to do today

and tonight

there's our very own Sunset Pines Ball.

So, don't forget your dancing shoes.

Morning, Chris!

Day two at Sunset Pines is designed for Chris to sort of settle in.

Hey, Chris.

As people wear this suit, what the researchers at MIT have seen,

is the second stage is you move into this adaptive response.

Touch your toes, man. See if you can touch your toes.

So, if I'm going to get any longevity benefits from this experience...

...then my objective today is to adapt to life in the aging suit.

- Wow. - First up...

the rematch with Gary.

Ready to go again, Chris?

And this time, I've adapted and recruited a doubles partner,

Douglas.

Oh, good shot.

Gary!

Good shot.

Okay. Watch this. Huh?

We're not gonna watch that. Just hit the ball.

Okay, here it comes.

- That's it. Game over. - I'm not playing anymore.

Ah! Steady.

So, Chris is trying to adapt to this suit...

to work around it. Hack it.

Too old for this...

But he's still in this mode that this is something to beat.

But adaptation is not how he's going to beat the suit.

So, I'm doing my best to adapt to the suit.

But mostly it's just kind of bugging me.

That is mine.

- Thank you very much. - Good game.

Maybe it's time I tried something a little less physical.

Oh, are you all right there, Chris?

Poor old bugger.

And a bit more creative.

Hi, everyone. I just wanted to welcome you to today's art class.

Today we're going to be doing self-portraits.

Now, don't give me that, you'll be fine. We're going to explore our identity today.

So, yeah, get into it. Have fun.

- Okay. Thank you. - Have fun.

Hi, Chris. My name is Natalie.

- Nice to meet you. All right. - I just wanted to welcome you.

- Good luck. - Cool. Thank you.

So, the real goal of day two is to move Chris beyond adaptation

to the third and final lesson of the suit.

Acceptance and learning to rely upon others.

What's your favorite color?

I like this bluey-pink kind of vibe we got going here.

Oh, okay.

Bit on my helmet.

Very nice. It probably makes it look a little bit more interesting, doesn't it?

Oh, I know... I know what I'll do. I'll give you a rally stripe.

- A rally stripe? - Yeah.

- Oh, yeah. Bring it on. - A rally stripe.

Wait, wait. Don't move.

- Yeah? - What do you reckon, guys?

- Aw. It looks fantastic. - Nice.

How do you deal with that hand with that strap on it?

Very tricky, isn't it?

- What do you feel like? An 80-year-old? - Yep!

Arms feels a little bit heavy.

- You're looking a bit stiff. - I feel a bit stiff.

So, what's the secret? How have you guys stayed so active?

- I swim and I walk. - Yeah.

You know, and I get out and do stuff. I swim all winter.

- I'm pretty active at 80, so it's not bad. - Yeah.

I think as well as being physically active at the same time, keep your mind active.

You know, build up a good relationship with your family, your children,

grandchildren... make a lot of friends.

Yeah.

And... and while you're doing that, you will also helping yourself

in maintaining your youth.

So, if Chris can accept getting older and drop this notion

of physical independence,

that's when he can learn to rely on others.

He's going to have to adopt a bigger sense of himself

that can accommodate frailty, and vulnerability, and old age.

This is the lesson if you can learn to accept that fact.

That's when we get to experience just how connected we all are

to each other and to the world around us. This is very, very good for your health.

- So, you got children? - Yep. Three kids.

How old?

Nine and seven. Two twin boys at seven.

- Yeah. - They were fun when they were babies.

Yes, they're fun now.

You miss them when you are out and about doing

- your acting? - Yeah, definitely. Yep.

Yep. Yep.

It's looking good. Well done.

- Oh, Chris. Tell me about yours. - I'm not sure what it is.

It's like me crossed with a koala.

I just need a eucalyptus leaf to be chewin' on.

No, looks great.

Hey, bud.

- Hello. - How you doing?

Just...

remove the... the suit for a minute. Just a... Yeah, it's just so good to...

It's nice to have a breather.

- Feel good to take it off? - It does, yeah.

Well, good news.

You get to be done with that suit.

That experiment is over.

Wonderful.

Yeah, I'll leave it right here on the couch.

Right, oh. Exactly.

The major lesson here is acceptance.

There's certain things or certain battles we're just not going to win

and you're not going to beat that suit...

Yeah.

...and you're not going to beat aging and that's okay.

Yeah. But then how do you come to terms with that? How do people accept?

For me, just couple things to tell you about.

I... So, when I was 19,

a sophomore in college...

you know, life was really good.

Then sophomore fall,

friends of mine and I, we were screwing around

on our commuter train and my buds and I,

we just climbed it like you climb a tree.

There was just a parked train just sitting there.

But when I stood up, I had a metal watch on my wrist.

And when I stood up, I was close enough to the power source,

the electricity arced to the watch. Instantaneous big explosion,

and in a moment just, you know, everything changed in a way.

I lost one arm below the elbow and both legs below the knee,

and I came very close to death.

It broke me down.

My life was over. I was just pure loss.

And I thought, "Who am I, now?"

This forced me to reimagine myself.

Adaptation was only going to get me so far.

I had to accept it.

And somewhere along the way, it took me a few years,

but there came a point where I let that old body,

that old sense of self, I let him go.

He died.

What was in store for me...

I knew that my identity didn't exist in my feet.

I look at myself in the mirror every once in a while and say,

"This is my life. This is it. This is... this is my life."

I think this is a part of acceptance is where you actually

let the change happen.

Come on.

That's it.

Good girl.

That was a big, big deal for me.

Those years following my accident and learning to play

with how I saw myself in the world.

My sense of self had expanded to the point where not only

I could accommodate limb loss.

But I started making meaning and making sense of my experience.

I went into medicine and fell immediately in love

with palliative care.

People usually have a misunderstanding of it that it's all about

end of life and death.

But my job is to treat suffering and to help people

find meaning in their life.

So, you could also say it's something of a philosophy.

Come on. Right here.

My story is dramatic, but it's just a variation on a theme.

We all suffer, we all bump up against things that we can't control.

And that brings us to this point of acceptance

and that's a place where I'm trying to move Chris.

Talking with BJ, I find myself in awe of his attitude.

He went through one of the toughest experiences

someone can go through at a very young age too,

and yet he's accepted that experience,

and I find that such a beautiful approach to life.

So, are you starting to get a little hint,

a little glimmer at this thing called acceptance?

Yeah, I mean, one thing I've accepted and come to terms with is

that I... I don't feel invincible, you know.

And the really interesting thing that certainly I think about is, like,

well, there will come a day when you can't take the suit off and...

that's an intimidating...

thought for me, you know?

- It's a big one. - Yeah.

Yeah, so, it stirs up a whole lot of

ideas and... and thoughts.

And, you know, I... I think just living in that space of sort of goal-orientated

kind of get through this checklist first.

It can also be sort of dangerous, right? Like a...

- Absolutely. - 'Cause it's the assumption

that you have time to get through it rather than going...

Right.

- Man. - There may not be a tomorrow.

Yeah, absolutely. Yep.

I've come to learn how hard it is to actually be in the moment.

Is that a skill you have?

It's something I...

am aware that I... I... I want to achieve...

and be better at, you know.

But...

you know. Being in it, being brutally honest with myself.

I'm not. And now...

I'm sort of going, "What's really important?" You know?

You know, I just feel like I'm sort of, you know, busier and busier and busier,

and I'm not even with the kids as much as I want to be.

But like, I think about it...

That a lot, you know, and just...

Just the sort of fragility of it all.

I just wanna get this right.

It...

I've been working so much for...

ten or twelve years now,

and found a lot of, you know, my memories have...

it felt like they are in fast forward, and wishing I had a sort of pause

and taken more time.

And...

it makes me think about a story

my mom was telling me about. The experience she had recently,

where she thought she was facing the end of her life for a brief moment.

And that she felt...

complete peace with her experiences

in the fact that she had many people around her that loved her,

many people that she loved and she had a very full life,

and I think it affected me because I...

I don't want to find myself rushing through things anymore.

Yeah. This experience is making me

want to press pause on everything for a while

and then kind of be much more present than I've been.

So, at this point, Chris is opening up a little bit,

which is an invaluable moment along the way to acceptance.

It's now time to make some of these lessons more personal for him.

And explore the world of emotional loss.

The finale of day two is a dance at Sunset Pines.

Do you wanna try this on, see if it fits?

What Chris doesn't know is, at the dance, his wife,

his real wife, Elsa, will be waiting for him.

Oh, my God.

And Elsa has signed up to be age 50 years through the magic of prosthetics.

Yeah, I don't feel bad about my hands now.

- Look at my hands! - Yeah. There ya go.

So, I'm sitting in the chair,

and they started putting on the prosthetics

and it start to feel really weird.

I was like, I don't want to do this.

It was a moment of, like, "I can't do this."

Aging is...

is threatening, especially with women

and in this society, it made me think about

how much value we give to youth.

This is possibly the most confrontational,

daring moment of this whole experiment.

Chris does not know this is coming. This is a big surprise for him.

Yeah, I can... I can see my mom actually.

It just makes you feel like, God is that where we gonna go

and be, you know. It's... it's difficult.

But, you know, what's interesting is,

we know from data that most of us are less afraid

by our own frailty, our own deaths

than we are at the deaths of people we care for.

So, to explore this further,

we want Chris to meet another resident of Sunset Pines.

Well, my name is Aisea Vakalalabure. I'm a Fijian, from Fiji.

And I'm 88 years old.

And here's your table Mr. Hemsworth. I like you to meet Aisea.

Aisea?

- Hi Chris, pleased to meet you. - You too.

Do you know who Chris Hemsworth is?

No.

No.

How do you feel now coming to this life of retirement?

- How... - Very different, very different.

A lot of wonderful people though, you know?

It's been a very unique experience.

Well, I'll tell you

being an elderly person is the best thing,

aging is very important in life.

BJ said it was a... a great opportunity to meet you

because you have an important story.

Well.

I come from Fiji and I come from a chiefly family,

and my eldest brother we were very close. I was closer to him than to my parents.

To him, I am the small baby brother

but to me, he's everything.

And everywhere he goes I'm always behind him.

I was his shadow.

From childhood, right up until

we went to the army he's always there,

and he's always looking after me.

And I look at him as a father,

big brother, and my protector.

When our father died,

being the eldest of the family,

he had to take over the role of chief.

And he became a good chief,

and the people loved him.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long.

He became sick.

When he died,

my world came crumbling down.

And I lost

the man that I loved, my real brother.

And I was devastated,

the loss that I suffered

is unmeasurable.

But in Fijian society

there is a period of mourning of 100 days and 100 nights

when the whole village is closed down.

No singing. No playing. No nothing.

And as the 100 days began,

I didn't want to be around people

let alone lead a community.

And I thought to myself

will I be good enough?

Will they respect me as they respected my brother?

I can't do this.

But 100 days is a long time.

It gives you time to think.

To learn, to be more open to others.

To grow.

Day after day.

Every sunrise.

Every sunset.

The grief was changing me.

And that was how I accepted

I must stand up.

Follow his footsteps, put on his shoes,

though big it may be,

and accept the role of being a chief.

What I really want Chris to learn from Aisea's example

is the importance of giving ourself time and space

to have very difficult feelings.

Life includes incredible sorrow,

incredible sadness, and that those, just like aging aren't our enemy,

they're just part of the deal.

You will lose the people you love.

But I was a better community leader

a better man, because of those hundred days.

And so, I learnt grief is beautiful.

Sounds like where you're from there's far more acceptance

and welcoming of that transition.

You know, I believe that Western society

don't give enough time to grieve.

Grief is good.

That's what I believe in.

Gentlemen, here are your meals.

This is Sunset Pines finest, and, Mr. Hemsworth,

we'll be looking forward to seeing you at our weekly dance this evening.

- Bon appetit. - Thank you.

Dancing?

- Should be fun. - Yes.

It's great talking to Aisea and so good to hear his story.

But the idea of losing the people you love,

I think is the scariest thing

and that's not really something I'm ready to accept just yet.

Sorry, Elsa. Is it okay if you just keep your eyes closed

for a little while?

Just while we do this. Thank you.

So, the last part of day two, we come to the dance,

and this is where we confront Chris with Elsa, his beloved wife.

But now Elsa is the one who's aged 50 years.

This could be good, or it could be very tragic.

I don't know what's going to happen.

Looking at myself, it's really confronting,

and so real, like, really, really real.

I feel really vulnerable.

And I'm not sure I want Chris to see me like this.

Yeah.

- Chris, there you are. Now... - You all right?

I have set you up with a fantastic date.

- Oh, really? - Yeah, now, I know you're married.

- But we won't tell your wife, okay? - Yeah, yeah, but?

Come with me. Come on now. Don't be shy.

- Okay, I'm not shy. I know. - Not shy though?

- Nervous not... not shy though. - Oh, okay. See the lady in pink there?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Go get her, boy!

Excuse me, I think I'm your date.

Oh, my God.

- It's so weird! - Look at you.

Oh, my God.

Is it... I just wanna touch your shoulder and I was like...

"Oh, my God. I know this person."

Did you know?

Oh, wow.

Hello.

Still beautiful.

I think this moment we will remember forever.

It was so deep and so unexpected.

I felt safe.

It was so beautiful.

- Do you expect it, you know? Not at all? - I don't know what was going on.

I mean, this is a wild experience.

Looking at my wife having aged 50 years and it was a strange mixture of emotions

of sort of...

love, joy, empathy...

and then also

kind of absurd in a brilliant way.

It's been such a weird...

day, like, I don't know. Just thinking about...

life and death and everything. And then, this...

For me, today was, like, I was just putting on 50 years.

- Yeah. Yep. - And it's really, really shocking,

not... not having those years to adapt.

And I think nature gave you that...

- steps to get used to me in a way. - Yeah.

It's pretty intense diving straight into. This is what... Yeah.

Yeah. It's just... it's really confronting.

No, it was quite shocking when I saw you then.

I was like, "Oh! Wait, wait." Been robbed of 50 years.

It was kind of like... it was kind of,

you're at the tail end of things maybe.

Got a little... a little sort of teary-eyed.

- I want to live those years with you. - Yeah.

We need those memories, yeah?

Should we dance?

Should we dance? Sure. Be careful with my back.

You gotta be careful. You just try and keep up, all right?

You all right? Moving slow.

Maybe with this experience, we've ratcheted down Chris's anxieties

or fears around aging and death,

so that he gets to see this idea that aging ain't so bad.

And that love actually really

can hold you through just about anything.

I think what is quite confronting is approaching that age on my own.

What makes it less scary

is having someone to experience it with.

You know, having people around you that you love,

makes me feel a lot more...

accepting.

Sorry, I have to go.

Okay.

I love you.

I love you too.

One of the really important lessons that Chris needs to learn

is where there is love, there is loss.

There will be losses in his own life.

It's not if, it's when.

And this sets us up for the next piece of this very strange odyssey...

Where we're moving from aging into mortality, into death.

Good morning, residents.

It's yet another beautiful day here at Sunset Pines,

where we live every day to the fullest.

Theater Club is starting soon.

And don't forget, there's bingo in the village hall this evening.

Oh, and we also want to formally welcome Mr. Hemsworth,

who's already settling right in.

I feel quite immersed, and at home in the experience now.

And I'm just trying to be constantly open to it.

Makes me realize, you know,

this... this might not be as bad as I thought it was gonna be.

So here we are at the beginning of day three, our final day,

and we're moving now towards death, mortality.

- Hello. - Hi.

I wanted to introduce Chris to my friend and colleague...

Alua Arthur. And she works as, what's called a death doula.

Now tell me, what exactly is a death doula?

So, a death doula is somebody who does all the non-medical care

and support of the dying person and the family through the process.

We essentially walk people toward the end of life.

Wow.

So, if you were talking a lot about the end of life.

Today, we're gonna talk about your mortality.

Okay.

- Okay? - Yeah.

So we have a little exercise prepared for you,

a little bit of exposure therapy...

- All right. - ...to get you ready for that.

- Okay. - You ready?

- Yeah. - Okay, let's go check it out.

So, as you see,

- we have a bunch of coffins here for you. - Wow.

Yeah, you have a chance to take a look at them,

see what you like, see what you don't like.

- I... I have to choose one? - Yeah, that'd be great.

- Wow. - You can do a little shopping,

take a look around, see what you're interested in,

what you're drawn to.

What an odd concept. This is a little kind of dollhouse vibe.

- It is. - So I'll maybe not go there.

- We have a beautiful... - Yeah.

...pine one here.

All the sort of fancy timbers feel a little bit of a waste, don't they?

To bury those in the ground.

Feels like that should be furniture or something.

Maybe cardboard. Compostable.

Really economical too.

- Yeah. - They are totally compostable,

- biodegradable. - Yeah.

Everything like that.

I mean, I'm not gonna... I'm not gonna need much where I'm going, I guess.

Breathes well?

Breathes well, beautiful, natural, Moses vibes.

- Extra-large picnic basket. Good. - Absolutely. Here we have a mahogany one.

- Oh, yeah? - Yeah, really beautiful.

This one has been built specifically for your body.

Maybe you might wanna check it out, get in it?

- Yeah, cool. - Ready?

- Just jump straight in there, right? - Yeah, take it easy.

My hope, in looking at the coffins with Chris,

is that he will connect to his own body one day in those coffins.

And so he starts to think of his death itself.

- Yeah, you already got the position down. - Yeah, look at that.

- Just like that. - It's weird... I feel like a vampire.

- Yeah, well, close. - Just going away for the...

long night.

- Also called death? - Yeah.

Yeah.

- Done. - Well...

We're scared about talking about death

'cause it makes us really uncomfortable,

like it's something wrong.

Trees die, flowers die, animals die, car batteries die, humans die.

It was... it was a strange experience, wasn't it?

What do you think of coffins generally?

You... I don't know, I kind of maybe would prefer to be cremated, I guess.

Rather than cocooned up in some space,

there's something sort of claustrophobic about that thought.

Yeah.

And maybe you could just... You could throw me in the ocean

and the sharks could have at me, and...

- Throw your body in the ocean? - Yeah.

I'm curious about how you view what happens after death.

I don't know. I remember as a kid, sort of lying awake at night,

thinking about the idea of nothing,

you know, and... poof... just that's it, you know, forever...

- Yeah. - ...you know? And not just forever,

- but forever, forever, forever, you know? - Forever.

And it used to kinda... And it'd, like, keep me up.

You know, it was this, like,

just that complete empty, nothing,

gone kind of idea.

Scared the hell out of me.

The reality is, as we know, that it could be at any point in time...

- Yeah. - ...right? You know, often people

think about the end of life as some faraway notion.

Like it's something that happens out there, over there

and it comes far sooner than most people are ready for,

which is why opportunities like this one, to be present to mortality, is so useful.

What would you say the biggest thing you've learned

through talking to people at the end of their days?

Being with somebody

as they have just stopped breathing,

to feel the incredible stillness in the room

after life has just left a body,

is the most simple, yet the most profound.

In that life really does hang on a single breath.

It's there one minute and then it's gone the next.

And when it's gone, it reminds me that I still have

the capacity to breathe, and to live, and to be engaged, and to love,

and to laugh, and to...

be joyful, and to wear color, and to...

- Yeah, yeah. - ...hug, and, you know, dance,

and to live, to live.

Yeah.

That's beautiful.

Later on, today, we're gonna do a death-bed meditation.

Get you closer to your death.

Okay, great.

For now, there's somebody I want you to meet before we do that.

- Okay. - You ready?

- Yeah. - Let's go.

One of the benefits for somebody as young and as vital as Chris

to be talking and thinking about death is that it really does drive home

the conversation that this is possible for anybody at any time.

- Natalie. - Hello, Chris.

But that young people also become sick.

Saw you in art class the other day.

Yeah. Hi.

Hi. Alua said that we should speak.

Yeah. Well, I'm here to tell you about my experience

with stage-four cancer.

And to be honest, I don't know how much time I have left.

I'm 27 now.

But when I was 20, I was diagnosed with stage-three melanoma.

It got into my lymph nodes.

And so, surgery was my only option.

So, they cut off my toe, they got rid of all my lymph nodes.

And for a 20-year-old, you can imagine, your life got turned upside-down.

- Yeah. - And...

from there on, I have thought about death every single day of my life.

No one at 20 expects to be diagnosed with cancer.

No one prepares you for a diagnosis like that.

And especially, like, the effects it has on your family,

and your friends, and my whole world changed, pretty much,

like, overnight.

Cancer became my overall identity.

Essentially, I was referred to as the sick one.

For a little while there, I was... I was really lost.

And I needed to find that person who I once was before.

Yeah.

And so, off I went, I went to Venice.

Not to run away, more to be in a place where no one knew my story,

so I could truly figure out myself and how to live alongside this cancer.

And I met a boy, I fell in love.

And he just saw me for me, which was, honestly,

really, really beautiful.

Alexander is genuine and kind.

And I've often referred to him as my oak tree.

He's the person who's just standing steadfast and he keeps me steady.

When you have cancer, you don't know if you can be loved.

And your relationship with love and yourself...

pretty much goes out of the window.

Love is the most

amazing thing that we have,

and that we can experience in this world.

And the fact that I get to experience his love, you know...

he makes me so happy.

And these are happy tears.

But three months into our love story, I came home,

and I had a routine scan, and they told me that the cancer was back in my lungs.

And now, I was stage four.

So, I told him.

And then I said, "I'm breaking up with you."

And he just turned around

and was like, "No." And he was like,

"I'm in this."

And he says, "I choose all the time with you that I have.

It doesn't matter if it's long, if it's short.

Well, I choose you."

It's probably because of my diagnosis of the way that I look at time.

The time that anybody has is so precious.

So, if you just dive in headfirst, and use whatever time that you have

because nobody knows their timelines. So, we're just going to love each other.

And we're gonna love each other no matter what.

No matter how much time we have left.

You know, we talked about acceptance.

How are you with... with acceptance? With that word or with the idea of it?

I've thought about death every single day for the past seven years.

Have I accepted my mortality?

Yes and no.

I think people have a very funny relationship with aging,

they get really scared of it.

But in truth, I would love to age.

I would love nothing more than to get old,

and I think that's a gift.

We're all... we're all gonna die one day.

So, you have to really live life as much as like you can and enjoy it.

To soak up every single moment.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Your life could end at any time.

So just enjoy life, enjoy time,

make the most of it.

And love as much as you can.

This is a heartbreaking experience, talking to Natalie

and listening to her story and... and...

hearing someone...

talk with such grace and... and maturity

about something so, so uncertain is,

is really inspiring.

- Hello. - Good to see you.

- How are you? - I'm great, man.

How was your chat with Natalie?

Yeah, an incredible individual.

Could you feel that...

This idea that there... tomorrow isn't guaranteed?

Yeah.

There's no certainty around that at all. Do you feel that?

Absolutely. Yeah.

There was this sort of...

essential need to, sort of, shake the world

and get this message out and say, "Do not mess around,

do not take it for granted.

Soak up every moment."

And that is sort of the running theme I've sort of felt with people.

Yeah, it's also to kinda...

weave together

in a sort of... a... a better understanding of it all.

So,

we have come to the end of the... Of your time at Sunset Pines, brother.

All that's left for you to do is walk through that door.

And...

whatever you find there, just go with it.

Okay.

This is the boldest part of this whole experiment.

Thanks, brother.

We are going to push our immersive theater

to its limits.

All right.

We're gonna get you to the hospital.

Cardiac arrest, 180 over 120.

Let's go, let's go.

Oxygen running. Breathe deep.

Chris, Chris!

- Chris, can you hear me? - I'm not getting a pulse. Get clear.

Clothing clear.

- That was intense, huh? - Yeah, very strange.

- Quite the experience. - It was... Yeah, yeah.

Well, you know if you're seeing me at this point,

things probably didn't go according to plan.

Yeah.

So, we're going to do the death meditation now.

The intention for this meditation is to bring you into greater awareness

of the end of your life and also to create renewed engagement

- with life as it is. - Yeah.

So, you can begin by closing your eyes.

And now take a deep breath in.

Repeat to yourself, "My death is inevitable."

"My death is inevitable."

On the out-breath, "I too will die."

"I too will die."

We're going to take you on a journey.

Everyone you've met and everything you've done

has been leading to this.

On the in-breath,

- you will grow old. - You will grow old.

And on the out-breath, repeat, "Your body will fail."

Your body will fail.

Once you've learned to accept

you can actually find something even deeper and more valuable.

On the in-breath, "You will lose the people you love."

"You will lose the people you love."

You will lose the people you love.

And on the out-breath, repeat... "Grief is beautiful."

Grief is beautiful.

On the in-breath, "Your life could end at any time."

Your life could end at any time.

Your life could end at any time.

- "You too, will die." - "You, too, will die."

You, too, will die.

He is my oak tree.

Just enjoy time...

And love as much as you can.

As you see yourself on your deathbed now in your mind's eye,

look closely at who is surrounding your bedside.

Who is holding your hand?

Your body is weakening...

and you're beginning to dissolve.

Release attachment to Elsa.

Release attachment to your children.

Your loved ones cannot save you.

You will create no new memories.

Now you surrender...

and release into death.

And you find yourself gaining acceptance that one day your life will end.

You may open your eyes

and blow out this candle.

- Hello. - Hey.

Hey! Come here.

Yeah, come on.

Come on. Have a seat.

Either way.

Another unique experience.

How was it? How'd you find it?

It felt really peaceful. It just felt...

It didn't feel intimidating,

it felt sort of like I was off floating down a river or something, you know?

Onto the next place, wherever that was. And...

It's just...

When you said, "Think of the place you'd be or you wanna be.

Who would be around you when you're dying, when it's happening."

And I was just imagining myself in my living room with all my family

and friends around and...

And then it sort of struck me, I was like,

"This is what I have all the time." Like...

- how lucky I am, you know? - Right on.

- Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah.

It's a very familiar place and experience for me.

And it doesn't feel lonely at all, it feels...

it feels like any other Sunday,

when I'm surrounded by loved ones.

Oh, the... the conversation we'd have in the last couple of days

about, you know, just feeling like I've been missing things

or doing too much, and I just had a moment of

kind of calm and...

pause about it all, and thought,

it's... it's all great, sure I can do things differently,

but not to look at anything past as it having been a mistake

or being done wrong.

And then, that sort of strange parallel with

this idea of acceptance of death

and letting go, and also with life and letting go,

and doesn't mean you let go of the steering wheel completely,

but just kind of enjoying the ride and enjoying the view, you know?

There's something very peaceful about that... that acceptance.

And maybe it's fun the circle back to this Sunset Pines.

This sort of, what feels maybe like a tacky tagline.

"Sunset Pines, where we live every day to the fullest."

- But the clue is in that title all along. - Yeah.

Welcome, Mr. Hemsworth, to Sunset Pines,

where we live every day to the fullest.

Welcome to Sunset Pines, where we live every day to the fullest.

Welcome to Sunset Pines, where we live every day to the fullest.

Thank you.

Hello.

That was the real instruction. "Live every day to the fullest."

- You all right? - You all right?

How was it?

It was awesome. It's pretty... pretty special.

You can do it. It only takes three days.

Yeah, yeah.

We tend to treat life as this right that we have.

And that by virtue of being born,

we have a right to life, we have a right to a tomorrow.

No. Life is a gift.

Another day is a gift.

- Before you go, can you sign my picture? - Sure.

A full life is one that includes death, includes pain.

But if we can be grateful for yet another minute

on this beautiful, crazy planet. Imagine that.

Hey!

This is my oak tree.

- Indy, quick, quick, quick. - Life doesn't come

at some point in the future,

when you finally find that person, or lose that weight,

or stop working so much, or get that job, or whatever it is,

it's happening right now. You're in it.

You're living it.

- Thank you, buddy. - All right, see you.

The truth is that we're not limitless.

Thanks, guys.

This experience has come at the right time for me.

At a time in my life where I really wanna focus on what matters.

And it all matters.

Every moment.

Every smile. Every tear.

- Daddy! - Every kiss.

All of it.

This has brought you joy?

- Absolutely. - Excellent.

Hey, Chris!

Living my longest, healthiest, happiest life.

That's gonna be the work of a lifetime.

Tell you what. That's a wrap.

Well done, everybody.

Jake, cut!