If given the chance, would you want to live forever? For tech millionaire Bryan Johnson, the question isn’t rhetorical. It’s a scientific experiment he conducts on a daily basis — with himself as the test subject. 

From director Chris Smith (Tiger King, Fyre), Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever goes behind the headlines surrounding Johnson’s antiaging crusade. It dives deep into his psyche, revealing the drastic shifts that took the entrepreneur from his own personal struggles to dedicating his time and energy — and a considerable amount of his fortune — to living long beyond even the most ambitious human life expectancy.

It’s possible that you may already be familiar with Johnson, as he’s been the subject of a number of articles in recent years that have gone viral. “The things I do lend themselves to great headlines and people forming certain conclusions,” Johnson tells Tudum. “I think what this film will do is maybe [provide] some more nuance on why we’re doing this. I think it will make the endeavor much more relatable to their lives than they imagine.” 

Indeed, it was those very headlines that led the documentary’s director to connect with Johnson. 

“Last year, I saw a headline about a man spending $2 million a year to become 18 again,” Smith tells Tudum. “That initial curiosity led to a 12-month journey following Bryan Johnson’s quest and its effect on those closest to him, while interviewing experts from around the world to get a better understanding of the people trying to live healthier, longer. A year later, I drink less, go to bed earlier, and wear a ring that tells me how bad my sleep is.”

Smith wasn’t the only filmmaker interested in chronicling Johnson’s daily life. “I was very late in reaching out to Bryan” he recalls. “By the time I got on a Zoom call with them, they told me that they had already been in touch with 65 other production companies.”

As with any story that goes viral, however, Johnson has attracted his fair share of online vitriol, too. “The hate really surprised me, and then it just persisted and intensified. But it’s really turned a corner,” he says. “I’d say [our project] has tremendous support. People are now adamant defenders of the objective.” 

The documentary goes beyond the headlines to delve into Johnson’s personal history and motivations, but Smith clarifies that the goal is not to prove Johnson’s detractors wrong. “The goal is never to try to change minds,” he says of his approach to creating documentaries. “It’s trying to put information out there in a way that people can make their own decisions and try to reflect things as accurately as we can.”

In addition to showing Johnson’s home life, the doc follows him as he travels out of state and abroad for procedures meant to improve his health and extend his lifespan. “The longevity field is evolving very rapidly, and Bryan is on the cutting edge of that,” Smith says. “Things were changing all the time in terms of his pursuit.” With intimate access to Johnson’s grueling daily routine, home life, medical procedures, and friends and family, Don’t Die tackles one man’s obsession alongside the larger issues it raises about our fear of mortality and long-held notions about growing older. 

“We all want to see tomorrow happen, and we all want to live and be our best selves,” Johnson says. “That’s what this is about, the immediate here and now, not some esoteric idea about some technological leap forward. It’s really about being our best self right now and how we take that idea and then bridge it into the future.” Make a New Year’s resolution to check out the documentary and explore a new perspective on what it means to be in good health.

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever is produced by Smith for Library Films, as well as Ashlee Vance and Daniel Koehler. It premieres on Netflix on Jan. 1.