Belgium / 2019 / 79mins / French / Dutch / English/ Portuguese / Japanese / Greek / Chinese & English subtitles

Third Act is a film about ageing, about caring and being cared for, told from the perspective of aging actors and local senior citizens, performing with the internationally renowned dance-theater company Peeping Tom. Life is a stage, but what happens when the curtain is about to fall?

This documentary follows the culturally eclectic theatrical family on tour around the world with the trilogy Father, Mother and Child. The theme of this trilogy, ageing and family, touches everybody’s lives, including those of the actors themselves. In the film sublimated theatrical stories are woven together with sensitive personal contributions.

Main actor Leo celebrates his 80^th birthday on tour with the company. Being active, being creative and surrounding himself with young people keeps him young. But while playing the role of Father – an old man abandoned in a nursing home by his son – Leo’s wife, in real life, is no longer able to take care of herself, and stays in a nursing home in Belgium. Will Leo have to choose between an active old age or looking after his wife and slowing down himself?

At each stop on the international tour, Peeping Tom works with local senior citizens as extras. These extras have been sought out beforehand and receive a crash-course in acting before they step onto the stage, often for the first time in their lives. Their personal lives provide an insight into ageing in their countries and create a dialogue with what Peeping Tom presents on stage. How do they deal with their own ageing?

The theme of Third Act touches everybody’s lives and makes you think: how do you want do grow old? Who will take care of you, if necessary? What do you do in the third and last act of your life?