'For the Living' Review: A Documentary That Pedals Straight Into the Heart of Humanity
- Romey Norton
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - November 26, 2025
For the Living is not the documentary you expect it to be, and that, ultimately, is its greatest strength. Billed at first glance as a film about an annual memorial bike ride from Auschwitz to Krakow, it quickly reveals itself to be a far more expansive, deeply human piece of storytelling. Guided by surviving director Tim Roper and presented in memoriam for his late co-director Marc Bennett, the film becomes both a commemoration and a confrontation, a reminder that history’s darkest moments are never as distant as we’d like to believe.
The Ride for the Living, which gathers 250 cyclists from around the world and asks them to pedal 60 miles along the liberation path of a ten-year-old survivor, is not treated as a spectacle but as a collective expression of empathy. The participants are not saints, scholars, or historical reenactors; they are ordinary people choosing to undertake a journey from a place of unimaginable dehumanization toward a city that today represents resilience and renewal. This is activism through endurance, remembrance through movement. Their physical effort underscores a central thesis: empathy requires exertion.
The documentary opens with impactful facts from across the world in a historical timeline, from the Indigenous Peoples of North America, where 12 million people were forcibly converted, hunted, or murdered, to Sudan, 2003, where 500,000 ethnic Darfuris have been murdered and more displaced. We’re then taken to Auschwitz to hear from a survivor. Reminiscing about his tragic time, we’re shown images from the camps, alongside some movie stills, which can help film fans make connections. This interview is conducted whilst walking around Auschwitz, which is very impactful. We then turn to the cyclists.
The director, Tim Roper frames the story as a mirror held up to the present: a world in which antisemitism, Islamophobia, white supremacy, xenophobia, and ideological extremism are again shouting their way into the mainstream. It benefits from its layered structure. Roper and Bennett weave together present-day footage of the ride with animation, archival material, and interviews with survivors, historians, and participants. The pacing is thoughtful, allowing the viewer to feel both the physical strain of the riders and the emotional weight of the territory they traverse. The script/language is clear, informative, and easy to follow; you don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy this documentary, but if you are, you’ll appreciate the varied storytelling methods used to bring these experiences to life.
The cinematography makes stark use of contrast: Auschwitz-Birkenau’s static, chilling silence versus Krakow’s vibrancy and contemporary humanitarian work, particularly its support of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the 2022 Russian invasion. The shots of the cyclists riding feel very freeing and beautiful. You can physically see the connection we have as humans. Not just as people, but to the land.
Roper’s voice as a filmmaker, particularly after Bennett’s passing, feels both personal and urgent. The film acknowledges loss, not only historically but within its own creative team, allowing Bennett’s spirit to hover over the project. There is no self-indulgence in how the documentary addresses his death; rather, it becomes another entry in its exploration of memory, continuity, and responsibility.
The ending is incredibly poignant. With words of wisdom and hope, to more war and destruction. For the Living emerges not just as a memorial, but as a reminder that humanity’s worst impulses are never fully gone, and that its best impulses must be continually nurtured. This is a subject I’d never heard of before, and it took away more than just knowledge - I was completely moved. What an experience and what a way to preserve memories and keep communities alive.
In an era when dehumanization spreads faster than truth, this film serves as a necessary, resonant counterweight. It doesn’t simply ask viewers to remember; it asks them to move forward, together, deliberately toward a world where empathy has a fighting chance. For the Living is thought-provoking, powerful and possibly one of the best documentaries I've seen all year.
'For the Living' is currently showing at various festivals.
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