Review of Waking Life (2001) by Jonny P — 28 May 2015

Prepare to check your mind in at the door, make sure it's healthy and clear, and prepare to have it implode on you. Waking Life is the most philosophically engaging film of all-time. It meanders through time and space, and reality and dreams.

It questions everything, and I mean, everything. Life, Death, Freewill, Recorded History, Society, Politics, Behaviors.. you name it, Linklater covers it all in a span of 90 minutes. There's so much here, it's just too much to take in.

It demands patience, intelligence and repeated viewings. Unfortunately, I think this will only be a one time experience for me. This film is astounding and absorbing in many of its parts, but it asks a lot of your mind to take.

I think it was a great decision to animate this in vivid rotoscope, because without it, many audiences would get restless and annoyed. I really admire Linklater as a director, for challenging the way we watch movies, and the way we think about ourselves and others.

I'd love to just chill with him one day, and see how well he could pick my brain. He's a genius. I think he understands the world, and humanity, more than I ever will.