The film starts very simply with the main character John packing his truck, and then joined by colleagues of his who have come to wish him farewell। His colleagues, however, cannot help but express how puzzled they are about him leaving, since he has established himself very well as a professor and is well liked. Each time he is asked, John either avoids the question or gives an evasive answer. He eventually responds to them by posing a hypothetical question to the group (which by now have been established as Ph.D.s in fields including anthropology, biology, and history) about what a man would be like if he had lived since prehistoric times and had the appearance of the same age for sixteen-thousand years. This question starts an innocent discussion, but changes in tone as John implies more and more that the situation is not hypothetical. The group all have diverse reactions that become more intense as they pose questions to John regarding the story he has put forth.
The focus of the story was the interaction of the people in the situation, rather than the situation itself। You will find that as viewer you are put in a similar position as John's colleagues in thinking about the logistical aspects of living for such a long time and what you would say if a friend came to you with the same story. The writer, the late Jerome Bixby, did this well by presenting people that could analyze the finer points of the hypothetical situation by being experts in many relevant fields.
9/10
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