The Last Journey

This 2024 documentary by the Swedish television duo Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson sets out with a personal aim: to take Filip's father Lars, now old and disengaged from life, back to the France the family used to drive to in his youth. The plan is to repeat the same journey in the same car and revive the man's old spirit. The film knows how naive that idea is and does not hide it. Its strength is showing ageing, and a child's wish to rescue a parent, without emotional blackmail. Lars's silence against his son's enthusiasm is the most honest element in it. It was widely seen in Sweden and confirmed again how strong a place this kind of personal documentary holds in the country's cinema. The editing sometimes slips into the easy habits of television. Who it's for: viewers who like personal documentaries about fathers and sons, and road films. Who it's not for: anyone for whom ageing, dementia and the loss of a parent will land too personally, or who finds staged emotional moments uncomfortable.