28 Up

How does a child become a man? Those who started as children become adolescents and teenagers, by the time they reach the college age they are young adults, soon they find themselves as full fledged adults. Michael Apted's documentary series bears witness to how children become adults, yet in the adults you can still see the spark and innocence of youth, albeit dimmed by age and experience in "the real world". At 28, the subjects of the film have now mostly settled into adulthood, and seem to be on the path that will lead them for the rest of their lives. The earilier entries all took place during formative, developmental years in which the only thing that was certain was change -- 7, 14, and 21 are all very complex stages of life. By 28, however, those types of developmental changes are mostly over, and we the audience sit back comfortably and watch how their lives have turned out. It's fascinating, sad, and dripping with truth.