Film Forum

After 50+ years exploring the far corners of the world, Werner Herzog focuses inward — on the human brain, via the cutting-edge field of neuroscience, with its attendant ethical quandaries. Joined by Columbia professor Rafael Yuste (the film’s science advisor), the two cross the country querying innovators in cerebral research and bioethics: Can computers help people communicate telepathically? How can the brain be stimulated to curb depression, pain, or the effects of Parkinson’s? Is thought control possible? Can fear be located in the brain? And — as only the beguiling Herzog could inquire — will a scientist be able to read his mind and see his film before he’s made it? Herzog’s curiosity is at its peak in this romp through technological advances once only the stuff of science fiction.

2022     108 MIN.     USA     ARGOT PICTURES

Trailer

Reviews

“AWE-INSPIRING AND PROVOCATIVE. Who better to explore the mysteries of the human brain than Werner Herzog?”
– Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
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“[A] mind-expanding exploration of human experience. Gathering together new research by scientists at the forefront of neuroscience, it is an eye-opening education, enabled by Herzog’s warm curiosity.”
– Nicolas Rapold, Sloan Science & Film
Read Nicolas Rapold’s interview with Werner Herzog

“Herzog crafts a bracing exploration of neurology and consciousness…from a rich multitude of angles. The result is one of his most piercing inquiries yet… Amid the cryostats and nanoparticles and fiber optics, the clunky gadgets and impenetrable-to-the-layperson diagrams, he summons a wry and lyrical mix of awe and foreboding… A quintessentially Herzogian fusion of hope, horror, humor and heart.”
– Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

“A baffling guided tour of the brain. [Herzog] makes the exploration as wide-ranging, philosophical and off-the-wall as possible…satisfyingly strange.”
– Steve Pond, The Wrap

“Shows the filmmaker as youthfully curious as ever…engaging and illuminating.”
– Todd McCarthy, Deadline