by Cain Noble-Davies
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Filip Hammar, Lars Hammar, Fredrik Wikingsson
Intro:
… laughs and the frequent bouts of sobbing without any of it feeling manipulative.
The Last Journey, from Swedish TV veterans Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson, succeeds because it actively leans into how flawed the intent behind its own premise is.
As Filip and Fredrik document their efforts to take the former’s retired dad Lars on a road trip to France to get his mojo back, they regularly butt heads over who is ultimately being soothed.
As a depiction of someone reckoning with the fact that their parent isn’t the same as they remember them to be, the journey benefits from how nakedly vulnerable all parties are. For Fredrik, it’s to help a friend out. For Filip, it’s to reconnect with his dad and maybe help him to reconnect with himself. And for Lars, it’s just as much about helping his son out of his emotional dilemma as it could be about helping himself out of his own.
In-between timing a local train, rehearsing road rage, and a very painful attempt at cooking dinner, Lars is what ties it all together. Beyond any nepotistic ties to the production, he represents the kind of down-to-earth and genuine personality that would be a boon for any ‘reality’ production, let alone one this personal. Seeing him tell anecdotes, recall younger days as a teacher, and finding the spirit of freedom in having a piss in the ocean, it fires up a Paddington-like sensation of wanting to protect and preserve a soul that is this pure and innocent. Misguided as his intentions may have been, it’s all too easy to understand why Filip would go so far just to do something nice for this man.
In its own weird way, The Last Journey is reminiscent of reality TV experiments like The Joe Schmo Show, where the unshakeable earnestness and humility of the main subject ended up changing the whole production. What starts as an act of self-admitted desperation leads to a genuinely heartfelt and moving story about a son showing his father how much he means to him and to everyone else that he’s ever encountered.
The Last Journey spends as much time sending up the tropes and cliches of supposed ‘feel-good’ documentaries and filmed stories, as it does them great justice. The evident therapeutic value that this production’s existence had for its directors/stars is gratifying because it allows the audience to meet it halfway, sharing in the laughs and the frequent bouts of sobbing without any of it feeling manipulative. Part of that is because of how up-front the film is regarding how much of it is purposely staged, but also because of how recognisable this scenario is as an attempt to reconnect with family. Do something nice for yourself and check this one out.
