The Oldest Person in the World

The Oldest Person in the World is a 2026 documentary directed by Sam Green, the product of a decade-long global project tracking successive holders of the Guinness World Record for oldest living person. The film follows Green as he travels across countries to meet seven different individuals — each aged 116 or 117 at the time of filming — who have, one after another, held the title of world's oldest person. As each subject ages and eventually passes away, the title transfers to a new holder, and Green continues his journey to meet them. The structure is loose and observational rather than strictly chronological: Green sits with these record holders, drawing out their reflections on mortality, memory, and what has mattered most in their long lives. The film poses existential questions — what defines a life well-lived, what meaning emerges from a human existence — without forcing answers. Woven throughout is Green's own voiceover narration, which reflects on his personal life during the decade of filming: fatherhood, illness, loss, and love. This interplay between the subjects' extreme old age and the director's own middle years gives the film a dual-portrait structure. By the end, what began as a portrait of record-breaking longevity has widened into a meditation on the passage of time, the randomness of fate, and the shared human experience of being born and dying. The project is framed as the first installment in a planned decennial series, drawing inspiration from Michael Apted's Up documentary saga. Coverage is based on pre-release promotional materials and reviews from the Sundance 2026 premiere; the film's theatrical release is September 10, 2026.

Sources: TMDb overview, Letterboxd synopsis, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival description, Web search results (IMDb listing, Sundance review references, Deadline trailer article)