June 12, 2019 From the Maui Film Festival's Celestial Cinema. Imagine an organism that feeds you, heals you, reveals secrets of the universe and could help save the planet. Fantastic Fungi is a revelatory time-lapse journey, from 2019 Maui Film Festival Visionary Award honoree and director Louie Schwartzberg, about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion ye... (Full plot summary below)
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June 12, 2019 From the Maui Film Festival's Celestial Cinema. Imagine an organism that feeds you, heals you, reveals secrets of the universe and could help save the planet. Fantastic Fungi is a revelatory time-lapse journey, from 2019 Maui Film Festival Visionary Award honoree and director Louie Schwartzberg, about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.
Leave your thoughts about Fantastic Fungi.
| RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmThough its generic title may evoke memories of the archaic science videos you fell asleep to in grade school, Schwartzberg’s film quickly proves to be one of the year’s most mind-blowing, soul-cleansing and yes, immensely entertaining triumphs. |
| ObserverRex ReedThe result is fascinating, informative, educational and totally entertaining. |
| Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiIt’s heady stuff, and Brie Larson’s gentle narration helps you navigate this quite complex topic. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleThe totality of Fantastic Fungi is so entertaining, informative and appealingly hopeful about the hard-working cure-all for our ailing world lying beneath our feet. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThis movie is fascinating on a lot of levels. |
| The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisA charming blend of science and conjecture, Fantastic Fungi wants to free your mind. |
| Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern“Focuses” is a relative term for a documentary that dispenses lots of information without organizing it very well, but Fantastic Fungi is never uninteresting, and often startling in the natural beauty it reveals. |
| The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeIf they don't know going in, most viewers will be surprised in the credits to learn this is the voice of Brie Larson. Presumably, Larson wanted to lend her star power to a worthy promotion of scientific research; but in this case, the scientists were doing fine all by themselves. |
| User ReviewPaper_KayEven if you are not into the idea we are where we are because of magic mushrooms or how trees talk to one another or how fungi are the most important thing ever, the thought of going into the woods the next time and finding a tripping crazy old hippy on top of a tree, screaming at the universe, is too cute to pass. This one is worth watching for the amazing imagery alone. |
| User ReviewAsclepiusMycology is interesting in itself, and I went in expecting this to be an informative, in-depth look at fungi. It was not that. It was more focused on humanity's relationship with fungi, specifically around the potentially healing effects of the "magic mushroom" for people who suffer from various psychological maladies. On this topic, I feel it tarried too long, as if the intent was to reignite a conversation on psychotropics currently regulated by the federal government. What it does in this regard, it does well. I simply would have preferred more time with the mushrooms out in the woods. |
