...the film does have a degree of dreamy magic, provided you’re willing to shrug off your scepticism and go along.

Mascaro’s film charts a unique course itself and does so in under 90 minutes. Mascaro is in full control as is his main star for a triumph about overcoming the odds and fighting back against a culture that wants to throw the elderly overboard.

It’s oddly abrupt in its conclusion, but this weird and defiantly original picture is quite a trip.

On the whole, The Blue Trail refuses to treat old age as simple decline, leading its protagonist through a jovial journey that denies programmed obsolescence.