Waking Life

R

Released Oct 19, 2001

1h 39m

Drama

Animation

List

81%

144 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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?

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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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Peter G

An amazing, insightful, delightful trip! I had to pick up a physical copy of this.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/02/24

Full Review

Taiven L

By far the most pretentious, self-fellating film I have ever seen. I created an account just to rate this one movie, that's how bad it was.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

Full Review

Solomon K

One of the best esoteric, philosophical movies I've ever seen, but I would say you'd have to be in the right mindset to watch it. I still remember the part about how in a lucid dream light switches don't work, and from experience, they don't.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/21/23

Full Review

Anna F

The conversations were amazing, but what the "artists" did to these conversations…let's just say at best it was distracting, at worst insulting and entirely counterproductive. This movie would have been better as an audiobook.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/15/23

Full Review

Kairi R

Would rate a zero if I could. It was not nearly as profound as everyone proclaims it to be. I had to watch it for a philosophy class and was hoping to get the thought provoking interesting movie everyone seems to be talking but instead got a boring movie. With very surface level discussions about philosophy and life I genuinely feel dumber after watching this movie. It felt overly pretentious.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/29/23

Full Review

Jackson87

"Waking Life" is an extraordinary masterpiece of a film that defies classification and challenges the very nature of what it means to be alive. Directed by Richard Linklater, this film is a stunning work of art that seamlessly blends animation and live-action footage to create a visual and philosophical feast for the senses. The film follows a young man named Wiley Wiggins as he drifts through a series of dream-like encounters with various characters, all of whom offer unique perspectives on the nature of existence, consciousness, and reality itself. The film is a deep exploration of the human experience, with profound insights that will leave you pondering long after the credits have rolled. The animation style of the film is truly breathtaking. Each frame is a work of art in its own right, with vibrant colors and complex visual patterns that capture the surreal nature of the dream world. The use of rotoscoping, a technique in which live-action footage is traced over and transformed into animation, adds an extra layer of depth and texture to the film. But "Waking Life" is not just visually stunning; it's also a deeply philosophical work that explores some of the most fundamental questions of human existence. The film is filled with fascinating discussions about the nature of consciousness, the meaning of life, and the relationship between dreams and reality. Overall, "Waking Life" is an incredible cinematic achievement that will leave you both mesmerized and intellectually stimulated. It's a film that will stay with you long after you've watched it, and one that you'll find yourself returning to again and again to uncover new insights and revelations. Highly recommended for anyone who loves thought-provoking films that push the boundaries of what cinema can achieve.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/29/23

Full Review

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Richard Linklater

Director

Wiley Wiggins

Main Character

Trevor Jack Brooks

Young Boy Playing Paper Game

Lorelei Linklater

Young Girl Playing Paper Game

Glover Gill

Accordion Player

Lara Hicks

Violin Player

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Show More Cast & Crew

78%

93%

Requiem for a Dream

TRAILER

for Requiem for a Dream

44%

35%

Final

77%

76%

Tape

47%

88%

Life as a House

79%

83%

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

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

Rated: 4/5

Dec 29, 2010

Full Review

Susan Stark

Detroit News

Rated: 4/4

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

Variety

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.

Rated: B+

Oct 31, 2006

Full Review

Chuck Klosterman

Akron Beacon Journal

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

Rated: 4/4

Oct 27, 2023

Full Review

B. Ruby Rich

The Nation

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.

Feb 25, 2020

Full Review

Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

It is a dream -or rather a series of waking dreams that slip into one another like those Russian dolls. It also takes computer animation in a new direction.

Oct 10, 2019

Full Review

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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: Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan, John Sloss
Screenwriter: Richard Linklater
Distributor: Fox
Production Co: Fat Black Films, Independent Film Channel, Detour Filmproduction, Thousand Words
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)

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