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Are you intrigued by the idea of living forever?
You’re not alone. Throughout history, people have sought ways to achieve immortality—staying youthful forever, not getting injured, and living on and on.
Scientists are hard at work attempting to create a fountain of youth in their laboratories. However, as far as we’re aware, nobody has unlocked the secret to immortality. [That being said, kindness has the potential to help you live longer.]
Hollywood has a good number of movies exploring the concept of immortality—both the positive and negative sides of it. To a person who could regenerate even after sustaining serious injuries, it could be a blessing. However, to someone who has lived for hundreds of years and witnessed so many loved ones pass away, immortality can be a curse.
Today, we’re presenting a list of the best movies about immortality, giving you the opportunity to explore this concept along with the characters in the films.
Let’s check them out.
1. The Age of Adaline
Adaline is a 29-year-old woman was granted eternal life and beauty after being in a car accident. She spends the next eight decades avoiding being close to anyone, changing her identity often lest people around her discover she never ages.
She encounters a man who opens the door to her past and has the potential to help her step into the present. Will she take the chance this time, after spending years running away?
2. Only Lovers Left Alive
In Hollywood, movies about immortality are often tied to the supernatural. This movie is about two vampires who are married to each other for centuries.
They struggle to survive in a world that has changed so much over the centuries. They need each other’s help to find their place in modern society.
3. Tuck Everlasting
This is the story of a girl who wishes to learn more about life, outside the control of her overprotective mother. She encounters a boy and his family, which is very different from her own.
The family has a secret: All of them are immortals after drinking from a spring that grants them everlasting life. Now, the girl must make a decision that will test her wisdom and affect the course of her life.
4. Death Becomes Her
In this movie, viewers are introduced to two women, Helen and Madeline, who are rivals in life and in romance. Both women drink an elixir that grants youth and immortality.
Helen and Madeline’s rivalry becomes dangerous for both of them, but the elixir prevents them from dying, with terrifying but hilarious results.
5. Highlander: The Movie
You might be familiar with this movie’s tagline: “There can only be one.”
This movie is about a battle that’s been raging for centuries among immortals. It shows what motivates people to aspire for immortality—it can be lust for power, a desire to protect someone they love, or merely the will to survive—and what they’re willing to do to achieve it.
6. Blade of the Immortal
Based on the manga by Hiroaki Samura, this film introduces a samurai who is cursed with immortality. Set in feudal Japan, this movie explores the path a person might choose to take if they can live forever.
7. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Here’s another movie about immortality that features vampires as the main characters. In this film, we witness the pain and anguish immortals go through as they spend limitless years in this world.
8. Deadpool
After a rouge experiment grants Wade Wilson accelerated healing powers (among others), he becomes Deadpool—a vigilante who goes after the person who did the experiments on him.
However, he eventually has to consider if getting revenge is the only thing worth doing if you are immortal.
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
This is the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It is about a group of pirates who come across cursed Aztec gold that grants immortality to anyone who holds it.
The pirates grow tired of their cursed existence and are willing to do whatever it takes to regain their mortal lives.
10. Orlando
This film is based on Virginia Woolf’s novel of the same title. It is the story of an androgynous nobleman named Orlando who is commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to “Never change.”
The movie takes us through Orlando’s life as he survives four centuries. Midway through, he becomes a woman. This movie explores the different experiences one can have in a single lifetime.
11. The Man from Earth
This movie explores how people would react if they discovered someone they knew was immortal.
In the film, a professor prepares to move to another place. His colleagues give him a farewell party, where he reveals the reason for his departure.
As he reveals the true reason—that is, he moves from town to town to prevent people from becoming suspicious that he doesn’t age at all—his colleagues each have different reactions to his revelation.
Final Thoughts
There you have it—a collection of movies about immortality to help you reflect on the concept of living forever and the meaning of life.
Which ones are you adding to your must-see list? Do you have a favorite that wasn’t mentioned here?
Immortality is a cool concept, but one that is surrounded by a lot of controversy. Ultimately, we believe that the focus shouldn’t be on the number of years you’ve lived, but rather the quality of the life you have.
Stay happy. Be kind. Leave an inspiring legacy.
