Visions du Réel 2021: The Bubble | Review
An extraordinary and worrying social experiment is analyzed by filmmaker Valerie Blankenbyl in The Bubble, which explores the world’s biggest retirement community in Central Florida.
The 52nd Visions du Réel (International Film Festival Nyon, Switzerland) is coming to an end at the end of the weekend. Audiences taking part in the hybrid event, which kicked off on April 15th, are still able to enjoy great short and feature documentary films, including The Bubble, which is world premiering at the Switzerland-based festival. Directed by Austrian filmmaker Valerie Blankenbyl, The Bubble is playing in the International Feature Film competition of Visions du Réel and depicts the daily life of the residents of the world’s biggest retirement community, located in Florida.
“The Villages” is a retirement community twice the size of Manhattan, continually expanding and housing around 150,000 retirees who migrated from Northern States to the Sunshine State. With humor, director Valerie Blankenbyl takes us on a tour of this unique gated community where retirees live their best lives. Within “the bubble,” residents have access to 50 golf courses and over 3,000 activities, including gyms, shooting ranges, bars, and nightclubs, offering a luxurious and leisurely lifestyle akin to Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998).
Much like the idyllic world portrayed in The Truman Show, where protagonist Truman lives a seemingly happy life unaware of the artificiality around him, residents of The Villages wake up to sunny days and a carefully curated environment, shielded from the outside world’s problems. However, beneath the surface lies a deeper exploration of human nature and societal values, reminiscent of Corina Schwingruber Ilic’s documentary All Inclusive (2018), which critiques mass entertainment and consumerism aboard a cruise ship.
“The Bubble” offers a glimpse into the mindset and lifestyle of the retirees, creating their own paradise where they feel ageless and free from societal constraints. Yet, their pursuit of comfort and pleasure raises questions about the life they led before retiring, the sacrifices made, and the impact of their newfound affluence on wider society.
While some view The Villages as a well-deserved reward for years of hard work, others see it as a retreat from reality, isolating themselves from societal issues and conflicts. The film delves into the consequences of this lifestyle, highlighting displacement of local communities and environmental degradation caused by the community’s expansion.
Director Valerie Blankenbyl skillfully navigates between the residents’ blissful ignorance and the harsh realities they ignore, prompting reflection on mortality and human nature. Ultimately, The Bubble serves as a thought-provoking exploration of privilege, consumerism, and the social and environmental costs of pursuing individual comfort at the expense of others and the planet.
