The Last Journey
Swedish documentary in which Filip Hammar tries to cheer up his depressed father with a surprise trip to France, but slowly has to face the fact that his father will never again be the man he remembers.
The Last Journey tells the touching story of Filip’s eighty-year-old father Lars Hammar, a retired French teacher, who has become increasingly passive and depressed at home. In a bid to rekindle Lars’ zest for life, Filip (a popular TV host, author and podcaster in Sweden) and his best friend Fredrik decide to buy a Renault 4 and take Lars on a road trip to France, where they revisit the places he has loved most in his life. The journey evokes a wide range of emotions and becomes a profound experience for Filip, as he realises that his father’s physical being is in a state of gradual decline, which no amount of exercise, activity or caring can reverse.
This heartwarming documentary is an ode to a seemingly ordinary man, who not only taught with love, but also lived life with humour and wisdom. It was a huge box office hit in Sweden and became the most-watched documentary in Swedish cinema history.