Waking Life

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Waking Life

R

2001

1h 39m

Drama

Animation

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

144 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Transcending the boundaries of technology and imagination, "Waking Life" is a revolutionary breakthrough in film animation. In "Waking Life," Wiley Wiggins ("Dazed and Confused") travels through a series of encounters and observations in a world that may or may not be reality. It is this surreal existence, flourishing with endless ideas and possibilities, that ultimately leads to the question -- Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-walking through our dreams?

Critics Consensus

Waking Life's inventive animated aesthetic adds a distinctive visual component to a film that could easily have rested on its smart screenplay and talented ensemble cast.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/29/2010

4/5

Love-it-or-hate-it film best for older teens.

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Emanuel Levy

Variety

10/31/2006

B+

This inventive animated film, which takes Linklater back to his roots in Austin and Slacker, represents a summation of all the philosophical concerns that have defined him as spokesperson for Gen-X.

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Time Out

01/26/2006

The endless philosophising is a bit sophomoric and more jokes would help, but this is one of a kind that grows more absorbing the longer it runs.

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Susan Sontag

Artforum

05/02/2024

A melancholy youth ambles almost wordlessly through deep America -- rendered in dancy graphics -- receiving counsel from a parade of uproariously soliloquizing, exquisitely goofy pundits.

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Chuck Klosterman

Akron Beacon Journal

10/27/2023

4/4

My sleep is never this exciting. I wish I could dream like this.

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B. Ruby Rich

The Nation

02/25/2020

Linklater and his animation collaborators have clearly had a lot of fun, morphing characters into their own conversational subjects, destabilizing their environs, throwing the material world into question.

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Hristo D

@RT85083038 3d

It is an interesting movie. Interesting concepts there, but it was missing something in there to hook me. Probably it was because it was animated. Overall, it is a nice watch, however if you are a person who doesn't like / cant connect to animations that well, it might be quite boring at times. Thinking about the movie - it was made in 2001, and back then AI and animations/visualisations weren't at the highest level, so actual animations were made frame by frame by real people. This is crazy when you think about it. How many human hours were invested into the making of this movie - 8-10 months.

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LayAban T

@RT55113300 May 16

This movie is an experience, experience on the boarders of dream and illusion.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 26

The worldwide gross is $3,176,880.00.

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Irene M

@igawel Mar 26

March 2026 Can't believe I never saw this Linklater movie earlier. Very confusing at first, but when I caught on, I embraced it. Given I was watching it 25 years afterwards, it's sad to hear how optimistic so many of the philosophers are, about this century, especially Eamonn Healy’s Monologue, about evolution of AI: - Humanity is not the culmination of evolution; it is the vehicle for the next stage. - Replication + variation + selection = emergence of new forms of intelligence. - consciousness as we know it is immature. - Healy suggests that the next stage of evolution will involve a new kind of consciousness — not necessarily biological. Healy wasn’t talking about AI, but his framework aligns with the way AI researchers, philosophers, and policymakers talk today. I can't believe the scene with Alex Jones!

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E D

@RT03998370 Nov 21

this is one of the best movies I've ever seen

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Jack G

@Jackkg30 Oct 15

This film couldn't understand how pompous it is now. It's funny how so much of the ideas talked about in this film would be huge talking points over a decade later on YouTube. Now it's exposed as just solipsistic arrogance and pride. Coolest thing and surprise is the Alex Jones cameo.

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Richard Linklater

Director

Wiley Wiggins

Main Character

Trevor Jack Brooks

Young Boy Playing Paper Game

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Young Girl Playing Paper Game

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Synopsis

Transcending the boundaries of technology and imagination, "Waking Life" is a revolutionary breakthrough in film animation. In "Waking Life," Wiley Wiggins ("Dazed and Confused") travels through a series of encounters and observations in a world that may or may not be reality. It is this surreal existence, flourishing with endless ideas and possibilities, that ultimately leads to the question -- Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-walking through our dreams?

Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Anne Walker-McBay, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith
Screenwriter: Richard Linklater
Distributor: Fox
Production Co: Independent Film Channel, Thousand Words, Detour Filmproduction, Fat Black Films
Rating: R (Some Violent Images|Language)
Genre: Drama, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)