John Rhys-Davies and Paris Brosnan are swapping Middle-earth and Western shootouts for a retirement home treasure hunt in SENIORS, a new movie from Forester Film and Collide Distribution that unveiled its official trailer and key art Sept. 2 ahead of a fall run in select theaters.
“SENIORS is a celebration of the bonds that connect generations,” said Rhys-Davies. “Having known and encouraged Pierce Brosnan years ago, it was especially meaningful to now work alongside Paris. In many ways, that full-circle experience reflects the heart of this film and the importance of investing in one another across generations.”
The plot follows a troubled teenager who starts community service at a retirement home expecting little more than busywork. Instead, he’s recruited into a secret treasure hunt by a stubborn military veteran with unfinished business, and an eccentric crew of fellow residents determined to prove they’re far from done joins the chase. What starts as a court-ordered obligation turns into an adventure that changes everyone involved.
Rhys-Davies, known for playing Gimli in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and Sallah in the INDIANA JONES franchise, plays the veteran, while Brosnan takes on the teenager. Brosnan, the son of actor Pierce Brosnan, recently shared the screen with his father in THE UNHOLY TRINITY. Bethany Anne Lind (OZARK, PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION), Eric Mendenhall (WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, OUTER BANKS), Sophia Echendu (CHICAGO P.D.) and Tyler C. Toney round out the cast.
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“Beneath the adventure and comedy of SENIORS is a story about legacy, purpose, and the unexpected relationships that can change the course of our lives,” said director Lance Clark. “We hope audiences laugh together, cry together, and leave the theater reminded that every generation has something meaningful to offer.”
SENIORS marks Clark’s feature directorial debut. He produced alongside Matt Webb for Forester Film, Huntington University’s production arm, which pairs professional cast and crew with students learning the craft firsthand on every project. More than 30 students worked across roughly 35 weeks of prep, filming and post-production on SENIORS, according to Huntington University, which hosted a red-carpet campus premiere back in April.
“The history of most crafts, including film, is filled with masters teaching apprentices,” Webb told the university. It’s the same model Forester Film used on its first two features, and SENIORS — announced last year under the working title OVERHILL MANOR — is its most high-profile outing yet, built to reach far beyond the university’s own auditorium.
There’s something worth sitting with in a movie that treats old age as the beginning of an adventure rather than the end of one. Scripture doesn’t shy away from that idea either — Proverbs calls gray hair “a crown of splendor,” earned by a righteous life — and a treasure hunt led by residents everyone else has written off is a fun way of taking that seriously instead of just saying it.
Movieguide® has praised that same instinct before in THE SANDLOT, a movie that has held up for more than 30 years precisely because it valued friendship over spectacle. SENIORS looks to be making a similar bet: that audiences of all ages still want to watch generations choose each other, treasure map or not.
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