Michael Apted returns with a new episode of the Up series. This time, as the title 63 Up indicates, the subjects are now 63. Apted’s incorporation of the important parts depicting his subjects throughout the years feel familiar yet more insightful this time around. Some of these clips include subjects like Tony Walker in different stages of his eventful life.

At 49, Tony predicted the economic crash that would happen three years later and would still affect the Western world. Now, at 63, he realizes something along with the rest of his generation. That their dreams of social mobility feel like an illusion. Which is what the documentaries’ early installments were about, especially for its scrappy working class subjects.

The working class contingent tried to upend what seems like a calcified class structure. And yes, they still have that revolutionary spirit. But it balances that aim by living personal aspects of their lives outside of the struggle. They even subvert stereotypes about their age. Life continues at 63, and so does the love lives of people like Sue Sullivan. She is one half of what she calls the longest engagement ever.

Life is very long, and 63 Up makes us feel that life. That’s true even if it’s shorter and more succinct than the previous episode. Even with the interviews, it makes audiences feel the emotional poignancy of events. The births and marriages that these subjects witnessed and participated in have that gravity. Subjects like Nick Hitchon cry tears of joy while looking back, even while knowing how impermanent these events are.

Watching the trailer for this movie made me anticipate this as the call out episode. And yes, there’s enough of that action here. But it also traces the nucleus of those arguments. Apted’s interest in his subjects’ personal lives makes him just like every other documentary filmmaker. When he asks men like Bruce Balden about meeting someone, it feels like a goalpost.

Asking women like Jackie Bassett about meeting people, however, has two purposes. The first and intentional one is to capture the new social mores that boomers have established. Their generation enjoys more freedoms than previous ones, and that includes romantic ones. The second and unintentional one is to make Jackie feel like she has a duty to have these relationships. It’s an idea she finds intrusively and understandably inappropriate for him to stick onto her and the other female subjects.

Besides, a lot of things have happened in the lives of Jackie and these other subjects. A lot of them have experienced the death of loved ones like their parents. Apted, to his credit, adjusts to incorporate these events. The way he branches out of his political and personal goals makes this a better episode in the series.

Starting December 20, you can watch 63 Up in theatres and on Britbox. You can now stream it on https://www.britbox.com/ca/.