A company develops a technology which makes it possible to transfer lifespans between people. When his wife loses 40 years of her life to pay for his debt, a man must find a way to get it back.

Director: Boris Kunz

Stars: Kostja Ullmann, Corinna Kirchhoff, Marlene Tanczik

Film review

Paradise is a sleek, morally charged sci-fi thriller that imagines a world where years of life can be traded like currency, raising poignant questions about equity, consent, and the biological value of time.

While there is no current longevity therapy that relies on a zero sum game (recipients of young blood plasma can be happy in the knowledge that the donors are fully recharged in a few weeks) who knows what would happen if some limited-supply special kind of stem cells were found, that had a massive impact on health, and therefore could be traded and transplanted between people?

Either way, some of the ethical aspects will need to be considered as true rejuvenation treatments are developed: who gets to live longer, at what cost, and by whose choice?

Kunz crafts a visually sharp narrative that critiques the pursuit of eternal youth without outright condemning it—leaving us to wrestle with our own ambitions and anxieties around life extension. Worth a watch!

- Adrian Cull