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Film / The Man from Earth: Holocene

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The Man from Earth: Holocene is a 2017 Science Fiction Drama and a sequel to the 2007 film. The script was written by Richard Schenkman, who also directed like with the first film, and Emerson Bixby, the son of Jerome Bixby who wrote the script for the first film.

A decade after abandoning his previous identity, John Young now lives as a professor at Chico University while in a relationship with his colleague Carolyn. Except after 14,000 years, he's found that he's finally started to age during the last decade and is baffled by the cause. Meanwhile, four of his students come to suspect his true identity after reading a book published by Art Jenkins about what John told him, which ruined his career and left him determined to find John.

Due to the success the first film had on torrent sites, this film was released directly to torrent sites for legal download before being released as a DVD.


Tropes used in this film:

  • Abusive Parent: Philip's father was an alcoholic and when he hit his mother, they both left and ended up being taken in by a friendly Christians. This is why he cares so much about his faith, as he sees it as God saving him and his mother.
  • The Ageless: Subverted, a big part of this film is that John has aged a decade since the film.
  • But Now I Must Go: When he realises that his students have found out his secret, he quits his job at the university and breaks up with his girlfriend. While his friend Gil is disappointed he accepts John's decision, but Carolyn is understandably heartbroken despite John explaining how he's leaving behind assets to make sure she will be taken cared of.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: What causes his students to start believing that he's Jesus is that he saved both a janitor and a suicidal girl. John simply states that he used CPR on the janitor which is something anyone can do, and that the girl just needed some to listen to her.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The only characters from the first film to appear are John, Art and Harry, with there being no mention about what happened to the characters of the first film.
  • Crisis of Faith: While at first a sceptic, Philip slowly comes to believe in the possibility that John is an immortal and the basis for Jesus. This frightens him since it would mean the bible is nothing but fiction, and he swings from believing that John might have been chosen by God to a delusional man and even to the Devil trying to trick him.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Philip's father was abusive, which is why he's such a devout Christian as he believes the church and God saved him and his mother.
  • Darker and Edgier: While at first pretty similar to the first film, it takes a dark turn when John's students knock him unconscious and tie him up to stop him from leaving, with the more emotional Philip eventually trying to kill him.
  • Foil: Art and Harry have become very different people a decade after John's confessed who he really was. While Art published a book about the events, becoming bitter and angry over how it ruined his career and completely blaming John for what happened, Harry seemingly moved on with his life and dropped everything to come and help John when he called him, only asking that he comes to visit his dying father since he feels that he would like to meet John.
  • Foreshadowing: John mentions how the food is made differently using pesticides and chemicals as opposed to being naturally grown, a hint to the reason why he's finally aging.
  • The Fundamentalist: Despite seemingly being a nice guy who likes all his friends, Philip is revealed to be this in his conversation with John. Because of his Dark and Troubled Past he cares about his faith deeply, but his Crisis of Faith forces him to consider that it might all be false while coming up with multiple different ideas for who John really is. He talks about the rapture, and how the chosen will be saved while all the non-believers and other religious groups will be punished, which would include his friends. He eventually stabs John, under the fear he might be the Devil and to see if he really is immortal.
  • Happy Ending Override: The first film ended with Linda leaving with John, seemingly content to start a ten year relationship with him. Eleven years later, John has been with Carolyn for some years and makes no mention to Linda, suggesting that they either broke up or she passed away.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Neither John's girlfriend Carolyn or friend Gil are aware or find out that he's immortal.
  • Never My Fault: Art blames John for his life being ruined, ignoring that he's the one who published a book about what happened.
  • Punny Name: John now goes by the name Young, which is especially ironic considering that he's now aging.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • John telling his friends who he was in the first film worked out reasonably well since they cared about him enough to not try and hurt him. His students however have a very different relationship and become almost obsessive in proving he's immortal, leading them to attack him and tie him up.
    • It was getting harder to move on and start a new identity back in the first film, but by this film due to the rise of social media and the internet it's even more difficult. John even mentions that he's had to move on more often than before, since it's much easier for people to find out that there's no evidence of his new identity ever existing.
    • Harry explains that due to the impact humanity has had to the environment in recent decades and the different ways food is grown by using pesticides, many scientists believe that the Holocene geological epoch has ended. John suspects this is why he's finally aging, as his unique biology can't adapt to all these changes.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: John's students act as equivalents to his friends in the first film: Isabel becomes an incredibly firm believer that John is immortal much like Dan, Tara seems to be a counterpart to Art due to be being the most sexually active of the group similar to how he started a relationship with his student, Philip is a devout Christian like Edith, and Liko seems to fulfil the role of Harry by being the funny one in the group.
  • Sequel Hook: There's a post credit scene where Art is approached by FBI agents investigating John.
  • Unwanted False Faith: When his students discover that John is immortal, they believe that he is Jesus and want him to preach “The Word”, despite John explaining that he is neither the son of god nor is he looking to be worshipped.

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