Theater of Thought

Werner Herzog examines the human brain to understand how biological tissue creates complex emotions and thoughts. This documentary explores the mysterious nature of the mind while analyzing the social, ethical, and philosophical effects of rapidly evolving neural technology and artificial intelligence.

Written and directed by Werner Herzog, this United States production is the 20th of 22 films in his chronological body of work. It followed the 2024 release The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft and preceded the 2026 film Ghost Elephants. Produced by Ariel Leon Isacovitch through Ventureland and Skellig Rock, the film features a credited cast of 25 people. Those appearing as themselves include Rafael Yuste, Christof Koch, Bryan Johnson, Kristin Lauter, Dário Gil, and Richard Axel.

The film has a runtime of 107 minutes. On IMDb, it holds a rating of 7.2/10 based on 184 votes.