Aspen Film Presents

SOME KIND OF HEAVEN & SOME KIND OF HEAVEN Q&A with Director Lance Oppenheim and several subjects from the film

Expired February 15, 2021 6:59 AM
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After the film there will be a pre-recorded discussion with director Lance Oppenheim and several subjects from the film.

A Floridian garden of earthly delights and its discontents, SOME KIND OF HEAVEN explores life inside the manicured lawns and meticulously crafted suburban bliss offered by The Villages, the self-described “Disneyworld for Retirees.”


Every day is supposed to be a good one for the 120,000+ senior citizens of The Villages. Whether residents are interested in synchronized swimming or cheerleading, tai chi or golf cart parades, this large community of healthy retirees offers a utopian vision of a (retired) American Dream: wide, safe streets, picture-perfect landscaping, and countless activities all in service of their residents’ golden years.


While most residents have bought into the community’s blissful optimism, we meet a small group of residents – a married couple, a widow and a bachelor – living on the margins of the marketing fantasy, struggling to find footing inside the dream.


For Anne and Reggie Kincer, who have been married for 47 years, the difficulties that come with maintaining any long-term relationship are coming to a head. She’s at home in The Villages, but the wide variety of wholesome activities isn’t as good a fit for Reggie. As he experiments with drugs in search of a spiritual breakthrough, tensions build between the couple. His arrest for cocaine possession pushes the couple to the breaking point: as Reggie grows increasingly unmoored from reality, Anne has to decide whether to stay or leave.


Barbara Lochiatto never planned on living in The Villages. A transplant who moved to the community 12 years ago with her late husband, Barbara had to find employment at The Villages following his death. Four months after his passing, she’s struggling financially and emotionally. While acting classes provide an outlet for her feelings, The Villages’ dating scene is more intimidating than inviting—at least until she meets Lynn Henry, a golf cart salesman and exuberant Jimmy Buffett fan who invites her into his lively social world.


Once a handyman to the stars, Dennis Dean has floated through one relationship after another his entire life. Now, living out of his van while avoiding officials from The Villages, Dennis is determined to find a relationship that will finally allow him financial stability. But finding a wealthier woman willing to take him in, whether at the pool or the church, proves difficult, even with guidance from a friendly local pastor. But when an old girlfriend, Nancy Davis, unexpectedly invites him to stay with her, Dennis finds his desire for comfort struggling against his desire for independence.


Told together, their stories gently prick at The Villages’ consumerist promise and underscore how decamping in a fantasyland like The Villages can’t actually keep life’s obstacles at a distance. 


Official Selection

2020 Sundance Film Festival – World Premiere 2020

International Film Festival Rotterdam

True/False Film Festival

MoMA Doc Fortnight (Closing Night)

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Miami Film Festival

Florida Film Festival

Melbourne International Film Festival

Visions du Reel

Hamptons Doc Fest 

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    83 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Premiere
    2020 Sundance Film Festival
  • Director
    Lance Oppenheim
  • Producer
    Darren Aronofsky, Kathleen Lingo (The New York Times), Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman, Melissa Oppenheim Lano, Pacho Velez, and Lance Oppenheim