Located in central Florida, The Villages is the largest retirement community in the world. On the face of it this shiny happy ‘Disneyland for retirees’ seems like some kind of utopia. With a wealth of facilities, activities and different neighbourhoods, there’s something for everyone. The ‘resort’ is consistently the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. There are already well over a hundred-thousand residents and its expansion continues unabated.
However, beneath the shiny exterior and spotlessly clean pavements not everything is as perfect as it seems. Whilst the affluent elderly travel from across America to end their lives in some kind of luxury, not everyone finds the manicured perfection quite to their taste. Undoubtedly, for many the endless succession of clubs, recreation and entertainment is like a dream come true, other seek something more. Some Kind of Heaven follows their journey.
Some Kind of Heaven is an amusing and lively portrait of a community of people with different hopes, fear and aspirations. Whilst the tone in generally light there’s a much more serious underbelly to Lance Oppenheim’s film. There’s a lot of privilege on show here and outsiders are, at best, tolerated. Heaven or Hell, the jury’s out, but as Some Kind of Heaven shows you’ll probably get there by driving a golf buggy.
Some Kind of Heaven is available on demand from 14 May.
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