The Man from Earth

2007 Directed by Richard Schenkman

From one of the acclaimed writers of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone comes a story that transcends both time and space...

An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he never ages and has walked the earth for 14,000 years.

David Lee Smith Tony Todd John Billingsley Ellen Crawford Annika Peterson Alexis Thorpe William Katt Richard Riehle Steven Littles Chase Sprague Robbie Bryan

Alternative Titles

Pozemšťan, L'uomo che venne dalla terra, 這個男人來自地球, 맨 프럼 어스, El hombre de la Tierra, Pozemstan, Mees planeedilt Maa, Čovjek sa Zemlje, Az őslakó, Czlowiek z ziemi, O Homem da Terra, Čovek sa Zemlje, Dünyali, Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth, The Man from Earth 1, 맨프럼어스

drama science fiction

87 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Milind Alvares ★★★★★ 3

There's no way you can pause this film, so be sure to take a piss before starting it.
Review by Andreas Bardét ★★★★½ 31

Meine Herren! Diesen Film würde ich gerne mal mit dem gleichen Team, abgesehen vom Kameramann und Hauptdarsteller, und ein paar Millionen Dollar mehr Budget sehen. Wäre dann wahrscheinlich einer meiner absoluten Lieblingsfilme. Eine so gute Idee, und die Dialoge sind wunderschön!
Ein perfektes Beispiel dafür, dass ein top Script nicht unbedingt ein hohes Budget braucht.
Ps.: Bevor Ihr ausflippt - David Lee Smith ist ein guter Schauspieler, aber stellt Euch den Film mal mit zB. Daniel Day-Lewis vor. Da ist noch gewaltig Luft nach oben.
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★ 15

"Hey buddy, you don't waste time, do you?"
The Man from Earth is a lo-fi science fiction movie that compensates for its low budget with its high concept. It's hard to say anything about the plot without getting into spoilers (the synopsis and poster and even its genre feel a bit like spoilers, even if for plot points which are revealed fairly early on), so if you're a fan of hard sci-fi or stuff like Primer then do yourself a favor and see this before reading anything else. Written by Jerome Bixby, a contributor to both Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, it concerns a group of scholars debating the possibility of a man living from prehistoric times into the…
Review by Sreeyesh Vijayan ★★★★★ 5

This is a movie for the intellect. I couldn't believe a movie so simple like this could be so mind-blowing. 11/10.
Review by LeSchroeck ★★★½ 9

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Die Bibel nach Biff... was circa 2000 Jahre später geschah. Ohne das Wissen von Biff. Und nach der Überzeugung von Richard Schenkman und Jerome Bixby. Überraschend fesselnd, aus sehr wenig, viel rausgeholt. Die zum Teil unschöne Optik, die zu dick auftragende Musik (die sakralen Chöre zum Auftakt der Offenbarung nach John haben mich echt hart auf die Zähne beißen lassen) und diese letzten, viel zu dunklen und sich viel zu hastig anfühlenden Minuten vor dem Haus wirken sich leider negativer auf mich aus, als sie müssten. Denn die Geschichte und Gespräche wecken viel Interesse und noch mehr Gedanken. Danke für den Tipp Etienne. Abrufbar über Amazon und Netzkino.
Review by Explorer Of Movies ★★★★★ 1

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie just blew my mind. It is even more impressive when you consider it is science fiction without any special effects. The story is purely conversation based. It is GENIUS WRITING by Jerome Bixby (who used to write for Star Trek)
Any science fiction fan who hasn't seen this must make it a priority. When the movie started I was filled with doubt as it seemed super low budget. Thank god I chose to persevere.
Director Richard Schenkman deserves a lot of credit too, first of all for making this movie and for doing a brilliant job with his limited resources. All actors also gave their best.
Review by Two Cineasts ★★★★

Film reviews in 22 sentences (or less)
Today: The Man from Earth
„14.000 years on Earth... what do you like to know?“
Hi everybody, this sounds like a story, written for us. We said it dozens of times and we say it one more time again: we are huge fans of science fiction and fantasy, and this little TV – production just perfectly fits in what we love to see. A movie about a man, that confesses his friends, that he is 14.000 years old. No special effects, no aliens, no action, just a wooden cabin and a fareweel party of the special kind. The whole film just circles around the topic, what one would ask a person, that has…
Review by Lise ★★★★ 22

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A biologist, an anthropologist, an archeologist, a historian, a psychiatrist and an art history professor walk into a room....
... and they stay there talking, trying to figure out the truth of a particular matter. In so doing they reveal their respective academic approaches, their standards of proof, their own prejudices and the lengths at which they will go to reject or accept a story that doesn't play nice with their current beliefs. The result is utterly engaging.

Thanks to Daniel Webb for the recommendation
Review by Sid V 🌪️ ★★★★

🧡 = Technical Merit (Direction | Writing | Acting | Musical Score)
🧡 = Artistic Vision (Mood & Atmosphere)
🧡 = Personal Affect (Gratification & Comfort)

100%, fully, utterly, completely all premise. And I loved it (for the most part).
***SPOILER ALERT***
This no-budget, single location film consists entirely of conversation between a group of friends during an impromptu going-away party, and manages to maintain a level of mild intrigue on the strength of a captivating premise, a very solid script, as well as respectable acting (by low budget standards) on the part of its cast. The plot develops fairly smoothly in spite of budgetary limitations-- which, in fairness, aren't apparent, and in a weird way, play to the movie's strength. For…
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★ 6

‘Talkies’ are a funny thing with me. There are those I love, like My Dinner with Andrea, Pontypool, and Before Sunrise, and those I hate, such as Decline of the American Empire and certain French New Wave works … I’m looking at you Eric Rohmer. Gladly, Richard Schenkman’s no-budget social sci-fi finds a place firmly in the former.
Shot on DVcam with a minimal crew, The Man From Earth isn’t going to win any technical praise, the best that can be said here is that the lack of technical finesse doesn’t get in the way of the story. Likewise the less than stellar score; although I would have preferred a completely scoreless track, Mark Hinton Stewart’s efforts never really pulled…
Review by Haddad ★★★★★ 3

مجرد ما سمعت السؤال الي كان بالبداية صار عندي استعداد اني اتخيل الموقف او المواقف و المعرفة و التاريخ الي ممكن يمر
فيها شخص بمثل هالحاله فما بالك لو كانت ساعه ونصف فقط ، سنين انا وانت و كل من على هالكوكب نتناقش بهالموضوع ما راح حتى نفهم جزء بسيط منه راح تكون قطرة من بحر .. اساسا مجرد ما تتخيل الموضوع خلال ثواني معدودة فقط بيطلع معك اكثر من سؤال و كل سؤال له اجابات متعددة و كل اجابة متنافره مع الي قبلها .
الحوارات الموجودة بالفلم من اجمل و اروع و اثقل الحوارات الي ممكن تسمعها .. استمتعت بكل موضوع طرح و بكل سؤال و بكل اجابة ساعة ونصف ما كانت كافية بالنسبة لي و شخصيا لو اقعد سنين عمري كلها افكر بالموضوع و اتخيل ما راح امل انما مستعد اني اقضي حياتي كلها بالتفكير و البحث اكثر فيه ، شكرا ريتشارد على هذه التحفة العظيمة
Review by Steve G 🐝 ★★½ 7

You Have 90 Minutes To Comply: The New Year Project
There are, of course, many great and fascinating things about films. And sometimes they can occur or reveal themselves to you in the most mundane of places.
Take The Man From Earth, for instance. A basic rehash of some old Star Trek episode (Requiem For Methuselah, for you nerds - and it shares the same writer, Jerome Bixby) with lashings of The Tempest thrown in, it's not a terribly unique idea. A bloke assemble some friends, tells them that he's skipping town and that he also happens to be 14,000 years old. Give or take a century.
It's one of those ideas that, even if not as original as it…

Recent reviews

Review by Sandra ★★★★½

POV- I think I was watching this movie in one breath.
This literally blew my fucking mind.!
(kili poyi)
Review by sholee ★★★★

رجل خالد أُتهم بسرقته للحيوات من حوله جهل مكان مولده لتغير العالم بإستمرار من حوله وتبدل الأرض وتطورها، بالكاد يتذكر والده ونشأته.
اضطر لتزييف موته مرتين ليهرب ممن اتهموه، حوكم وسجن ظلمًا فقط ذنبه الوحيد طول عمره.
عاش عصورًا مختلفة وأختلف اعتقاده الديني معها وتقلب، تبدل مفهومه لمعنى الموت واختلف وجمع من العلوم مايكفي ليواجه عالمه ويواكب تغيراته، تكونت اللغة لديه وتطورت من عصره الحجري، كل تلك التطورات قد عاشها وحاول أن يواكب عصره ويعيش حياته هاربًا خوفًا من أن ينكشف سره.
14 ألف سنة وهو يتنقل لحياة مجهولة وقته اصبح السيف الذي يقطع اطمئنانه، خلوده لم يزده الا بؤسًا ووحدة، الفقد كان رفيقه الدائم فكل من عرفهم قد عاش موتهم أو هجرهم.
أستمتعت بالفيلم حقيقة لكن لم أحب فكرة كونه عيسى والهراء الذي ذكره ولم تعجبني النهاية كانت سخيفة بنظري علاقة الطبيب النفسي به.
Review by thesunshine ★★★★

It is a long time that I have not watched like this film. I am sure the effect lasts a few days. The story is in just a roomm throughout the film, and there are several scientists from different field. The film includes religions, miths, different cultures. These all are mixed, but some parts maybe distract you while watching. If you have enough knowledge about the above topics, you will understand better, but if not it is okay because necessary knowledge are added. Just need to watch carefully.
Review by Reuben__ ★★★★ 1

I'm gonna be honest, when I was recommended this film to watch, I did not have high hopes. The title and premise sounded like the typical low-budget Sci-fi schlock. If it hadn't been part of a film raffle I don't think I would have ever watched this. So you can imagine my surprise when I ended up glued to the screen from start to finish.
It wasn't all plain sailing, the first 5 minutes confirmed some of my worst fears - the acting was horrible, the writing was poor and the production value was non-existent. However, once the main conversation got going, the film shifted up a gear. That's what this movie is, one long conversation revolving around the idea…
Review by Scamp ★★★

It's worth watching to see John's friends pull away from their old buddy. Sandy (Annika Peterson) has dark bobbed hair and looks way too much like Phyrne Fisher (Essie Davis), Is she in love with John Oldman? Doesn't feel like it. Also hard to believe, IMDb has 888 reviews for this movie. That seems unlikely. But if John started the reviews 14,000 years ago...
Review by MaxMayo ★★★½

Ein Professor versucht seinen Kollegen zu erklären, dass er seit der Steinzeit am Leben ist. Einfach aber genial.
Hier handelt es sich um einen low Budget produzierten kammerspielartigen Dialogfilm, dem meiner Meinung nach anfangs etwas die Substanz fehlt, aber als es dann um die großen religiösen Themen geht überzeugt er doch auf ganzer Linie und bringt Ansätze über die man gut und gerne noch etwas länger nachdenkt.
Review by taruneswar ★★★

Really good writing
Review by Tom ★

This is about a guy named John Oldman (yep) who reveals that he's a caveman who survived to modern times, living about 14,000 years. I've heard for years this is a very underrated movie.
This is probably one of the worst movies I've watched all the way through. Don't even read the rest of my review. Watch this cut I made of a few clips from the movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggcd2wwWEuQ (the first clip being the moment I knew I was watching an awful movie, most of them being just a character named Harry talking, who has the goofiest cadence I've ever heard, so goofy that I actually enjoyed hearing what he had to say just to hear that fucking voice)
It's…
Review by IlgazG ★★

Çok iyi bir konu ama berbat bir kurgu. Bir fikrin bu kadar mı içine edilir dedirtiyor. Çok derin ve felsefik gibi görünen ama çok sığ kalan bir film ne yazık ki. Belki 18 yaşında olsaydım ilginç gelebilirdi.
Review by Mx. Glides ★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

John Oldman isn't who he says he is. John Oldman isn't actually a milquetoast middle-aged white man who just resigned as a history professor at Stanford. John Oldman is actually a 14,000 year old Cro-Magnon who has encountered every historical figure you can imagine of, eventually becoming the real life inspiration for Jesus Christ himself.
One of the worst scenes in cinematic history in a film that's otherwise overall beloved is the scene in Titanic where Kate Winslet brags about knowing Picasso and Freud in person. It's inspired so many other imitators, shorthand for a character being smart or cultured without having to actually prove it. The Man From Earth is that scene dragged out to nearly two hours without…
Review by Ulfric ★★★★

Çok ilginç bir film.Tek mekan bir film çok rastlamadığımız bir mekan seçimi ve film akıcı diyaloglar üzerine kurulu.Gerçekten çok ilginç.Bana orada bulunan kişilerin soruları biraz yetersiz geldi,kanıtlanmamış teorilerin gerçekliğini fln sorabilirlerdi sonuçta bilim insanları hepsi.Film aslında birçok konuyu yüzeysel geçiyor ayrıntılara inmiyor.Sonuna çok coşamadım.Oyunculuklar baya tatlı,güzel.Cidden sıradışı ve güzel bir film
Review by AvantEmoji ★½

One of the tackiest examples I’ve seen of modern *~mindbending~* styled sci-fi films.
I get that Bixby had a fairly prolific career in genre fiction but the writing here consists of nothing but pompous excess.
Others have negatively compared this film to a Reddit comment thread but from any glance one can see the unfortunate resemblance — whole monologues are dedicated to religiously skeptic posturing, women characters reduced to either doe eyed and infatuated cheerleaders or a bug eyed Hysterical Old White Woman®️
Besides all that, this style of ultra-verbose discourse presented as cinematic storytelling simply comes off vapid. Unlike skillful directors like Linklater, who lets his figures glide across picturesque locale while musing existence, or Antero Alli, using psychedelic…