- Writer
- Ondi Timoner
- Director
- Ondi Timoner
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 106 minutes
- Release Date
- November 29th, 2022 (Paramount Plus)
Overall Score
Rating Summary
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A highly personal film, Last Flight Home depicts a dying man’s wish to die on his own terms. Eli Timoner was an entrepreneur who created a low budget airline in the 70s called Air Florida. In the 1980s, after leading a perfectly healthy life-style, he suffered a stroke which left him permanently disabled. Flashforward to 2021 and after a slew of health issues, Timoner decides, under California’s End of Life Option, to die on his own terms. The film is split between going over who their dad was as a person (before and after his stroke) and talking about his impact on them, and watching the family as they help their dad with the preparation of dying.
An interesting facet is that Last Flight Home is not a documentary on the morality of choosing to die in this manner, rather the entire family respects his wishes and lets him make his own choices. They help him with planning how to take the medication he needs to (as he needs to be able to take it on his own), and following through on his wishes of how he wants to die, following through with Jewish tradition through and through.
However, the documentary doesn’t just wish to explore someone’s death, rather, it more wants to explore how they lived. The documentary is interested in showing Timoner’s impact as a father and a husband. His children discuss their father’s impact on not only them, but the people around him and the people he worked with. They discussed how his life was drastically changed after his stroke, and how people treated him differently. There’s a poignant line in the film where one of the children states there are people who did not want a disabled man to be the head of an airline. Even though his physical state weakened, his mind did not (as he had to be of sound mind to make the decision he did) and his sharp comments (such as some choice words he had towards a former US president).
In the end, Last Flight Home offers a personal and emotional look into a man’s life, his memory and the legacy he leaves behind. A beautiful portrayal of family, memories and all that bonds us.
still courtesy of MTV Documentary Films
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