In Oscar Contender ‘The Last Journey,’ A Hero Rises From His Recliner – The Endearing Lars Hammar

deadline.com:

A great documentary can make you fall in love with a real person you had never encountered before viewing a film. Such is the case, for me, with Lars Hammar, the protagonist of the Oscar-contending documentary The Last Journey.

Dear Lars spent a career teaching French to kids in Sweden. Reaching a certain age, he stepped away from the classroom to a future he imagined would sparkle with adventure and travel.

Alas, in retirement he felt the increasing gravitational pull of his comfy recliner, and instead of journeying abroad, he sank deeper into the cushions – and then deeper into depression. “He seems to have lost his spark,” his wife Tiina notes with concern in the film directed by Filip Hammar – the couple’s son — and Fredrik Wikingsson.

The filmmakers gained fame in Sweden for their work as television hosts, their humor showcased in mostly lighthearted forays outside the studio.