"The Man from Earth" is one of my favorite movies. It is a masterful story, and David Lee Smith's portrayal of a man who was ultimately looking for a debate with other scholars held me fast. It is, however, a standalone film that has no need for a sequel.
Cut to "The Man from Earth: Holocene", which can be forgiven for the no-budget presentation (heck, the first movie looked worse), and even though the actors typically have dialog that isn't insultingly bad, their lack of physical investment in WHAT they are saying truly IS bad. It can be frustrating to watch actors talking, while their arms are wrapped around their torso awkwardly, or they stand around with their arms at their sides, with body language that negates what is being SAID.
Worst of all, this movie takes one of the more uninteresting aspects of John Oldman's debates about his past, and decides to dedicate an entire movie to that single concept of who he was, or what he did during a small sliver of time. Near the halfway point of this movie, it goes from "I don't get why this movie is being made, but fine, whatever" to "Oh hell naw! No you DIDN'T!"
John ends up being forced to debate with one of his students, in a predicament that John shouldn't have been put into in the first place. This half hour is dreadful. It makes those who might be in the student's favor look like idiots. Whether or not I believe with either party's opinion, I think the third act should only have been considered during a rough draft discussion, then laughed off and tossed aside. never to be written into a screenplay.
The "debate" and discussion that proceeds for most of the rest of the movie manages to delve deeper into a downward spiral of insipid immaturity, and every character makes the WRONG decision when it's time to act.
My initial impression about a sequel to "The Man from Earth" could not have been more right: Just Let It Be. Don't Touch It.
Instead, this sequel was made, and ended up puking on the unique storytelling mastery of the first movie.
Skip it. Watch the first one again.
- As a bonus, there's a mid-credit scene that hints at a sequel. One that is guaranteed to dive deeper into that hole in which rabbits probably poop into.
