Waking Life

"Dreams. What are they? An escape from reality or reality itself?"

Mar 7 2002 R 1h 39m
Animation, Drama, Fantasy

Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.

Plot

Dreams. What are they? An escape from reality or reality itself? Waking Life follows the dream(s) of one man and his attempt to find and discern the absolute difference between waking life and the dreamworld. While trying to figure out a way to wake up, he runs into many people on his way; some of which offer one sentence asides on life, others delving deeply into existential questions and life's mysteries. We become the main character. It becomes our dream and our questions being asked and answered. Can we control our dreams? What are they telling us about life? About death? About ourselves and where we come from and where we are going? The film does not answer all these for us. Instead, it inspires us to ask the questions and find the answers ourselves.

Written by

Richard Linklater

Directed by

Richard Linklater

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Independent Film Channel, Detour Filmproduction, Flat Black Films, Thousand Words, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Line Research

Languages

English

Awards

5 wins & 21 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
69,292
Average Rating
7.6 out of 10
Metascore
85
Popularity
NA