Retirement Plan (2024) Short Film Review: A Sweet but Devastating Elegy about Mortality

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People say that youth is wasted on the young. You may have heard a variation of this phrase from someone old and wise, upset by your lack of regard for the boundless potential of these years. It’s when you have the capacity to do things and feel things that you may not down the road. They often say this with a mix of anger and jealousy, subtly reflective of their own regrets. Whether the quote originated with that intention or not, it is often used to describe the energy you have in your late teens or much of your twenties.

That’s when people often start working toward their dreams, trying to fulfill all the hopes they once had for their adult self. It’s when you may be able to climb the highest cliffs, travel to the farthest parts of the world, and experience every adventure that you dreamt of as a kid. Imagine that same kid writing down all these wishes so that they can achieve them when they have the money or the freedom to do so. That would fill you with a dewy-eyed optimism, since it conveys all the possibilities of life that can lie either in the present or future. John Kelly’s short film, “Retirement Plan,” flips that notion.

The film reveals a similar list of wishes, but from the perspective of a newly retired man who desperately hopes to make his dreams come true. Unlike before, this bucket list may fill you with sympathy or a sense of dread for this old man, who is trying to live life only once he has the time to do so. It immediately takes you to a gloomier and more reflective note, where all the hopes feel like causes for despair. They seem only a few steps away from turning into a string of regrets and disappointments. Although it may be a cliché at this point, Kelly churns out a miraculously moving tale with the same premise.

Retirement Plan (2024) — A still from “Retirement Plan” (2024)

Within its six to seven-minute duration, the film distills the essence of a person entering a new phase of his life with a kind of cheerfulness that you can’t help but find endearing. Kelly and Tara Lawall’s script reveals a list of his wishes Ray meant to accomplish once he retires from his job. They occupy the entire duration, paired with animated representations of him fulfilling them. It also highlights the lessons he learns as he tries to entertain, which once may have seemed to him only a distant possibility. The not-so-unpredictable tragedy at the core of this story is Ray trying to cram everything into the time he has left in these twilight years of his life.

Kelly’s film isn’t special because it’s the first project to introspect on the middle-aged blues. More recently, Ben Markovits’s “The Rest of Our Lives” beautifully captured a character in a similar point in his life, trying to stay true to a promise he made many years ago. The novel explores the personal and professional maladies of this 50-something protagonist, who isn’t easily likable, while touching on political undertones consuming present-day America.

Kelly’s short doesn’t go on that route or relevance, nor does it offer any flashbacks to Ray’s life. It also doesn’t offer any insight into other people in his life. We don’t meet or hear about his friends and family members. That creative choice makes him seem lonelier and more miserable. That sorrow appears in contrast to the sheer joy he gets from talking about his goals. Domhnall Gleeson, who reads these notes, perfectly conveys the layers of emotion beyond the obvious, while portraying him as a vulnerable and desperate yet affable man.

The Irish actor, who recently starred in “The Office” spin-off, “The Paper,” evokes Ray’s warmth and vulnerability as sincerely as his performance in the show. The show paints him as a cheery, good-willed idealist, like a cocktail of Ted Lasso and Leslie Knope. That unpretentious cheeriness seeps into his voice acting, which takes Ray’s sentimental tale to a new height.

What’s remarkable about the short, besides Gleeson’s calculated tempo, is the amount of depth and detail Kelly conveys in such a small amount of time. It’s hard not to get choked up by the end, as you see this old man getting overstimulated by his desires like he’s a child learning to live anew. Hence, the film will likely strike a chord with a considerable number of viewers, whether they are as old as the protagonist or much younger.

If you’re the same age as Ray, you may relate to his weariness and nostalgic day-dreaming. If you’re young, it may hit hard because it has become increasingly difficult to ‘experience youth’ as a young lad. With financial uncertainties at their peak, energy isn’t the only thing one needs to do what Ray hopes to do after he retires. So, it may leave you with a tinge of sadness for a time where Ray’s endearing optimism will start feeling like a luxury. Overall, Kelly conveys so much with so little, which becomes its own strength.