Fantastic Fungi (2019) User Reviews

I hate Richard Nixon

[aarpcats · 8/10 · 26 February 2022]

Mushrooms may not kill cancer or reduce the anxiety of dying, but how would we know unless they are researched?

This is a visually satisfying film about mycology. It shows many of the ways we depend on fungus and how many more ways we could use it. It hints at the War on Drugs, and how it set back research 50 years. It does not talk about the double problems of Big Pharma or the petrochemical business in hampering it, but it should.

We live in a wonderful world, of which we are a small part. We should be grateful for the oddballs who are trying new ways to save us.

Spectacular photography. Inane, golly-gee-whiz narration.

[210west · 7/10 · 7 August 2021]

My subject line says it all, and I basically find myself in agreement with most of this documentary's critics. The time-lapse photography of sprouting mushrooms, branching molds, etc., is breathtaking. The narration that accompanies it is empty, useless, disorganized to the point of incoherence, filled with random claims about the wonders and cosmic significance of fungi, and ultimately a bore. The decision to focus on the biography of one individual mushroom maven seems particularly misguided.

I *love* fungi--keep that in mind as you read...

[rzajac · 7/10 · 6 April 2021]

Love fungi, love the photographic work in this flick, and very much appreciate where the folks who directed the production want to "mainstream" fungi.

More folks *need* to understand how important fungi are. It's also a wonderful ponder to reflect on how higher fungi grow and reproduce.

But... geez... did they *have to* inject specious pseudoscientific stuff about how a mycelial mass is like a brain, and trees use those masses to "communicate" with each other?

I'm about 99% sure the stuff they're implying is a weird romanticization of fungi... and that's (pardon the mixed metaphor) "gilding the lily", seeing how the "lily" (fungi) are deeply fascinating, without the added speculation.

Folks are also chiming in to deride the infomercial-ish 2nd half of the flick... but the stuff I describe just above--the stuff that rubs me so wrong--kicks in only about 12% into the production.

They could have kept it more grounded and scientific, and STILL been able to convey a scientifically grounded awe about fungi.

So... as much as I wished this flick could be the audio-visual poster-boy intro to that amazing world for the newbie... these affronts leave me unable to recommend it to those newbies.

And that's a shame.

It only gets as many stars as I give it because 1) the complementary payload of honest, scientific info is nice, and 2) Geez, but those visuals are amazing!

It is half advertisement, but maybe it is for the best

[vronskiy · 8/10 · 2 August 2021]

Even though majority of the film feels to be informercial, I enjoyed it very much. "Mushroom voice" was a bit strange and the feeling of disbelief would not leave me at some moments. But in the end, this Psilocybin thing is acknowledged by FDA and seems to truly help people. So I do not mind this to be informercial in order to spread the word. The story is touching enough and the visuals are just tops.

Perfect for any day

[gangov · 9/10 · 29 December 2021]

That's a movie that I can recommend to everyone to watch. I didn't know that it'd be that interesting and it'll give me so much knowledge. In summary you'll get to know why fungi and mushrooms are more than just things you can enjoy eating.

Intriguing and a great message

[NS-movie-reviews · 7/10 · 12 August 2021]

I enjoyed this documentary. It was perhaps more entertaining than informative in certain parts of the film. I do wish they had provided more scientific information. There were a lot of theories and ideas I was ready to get behind if given the proof and thinking behind it, but then it would just kind of drop off and move to something else. I wish less time would have been spent on the one man who we follow and more time on his actual research and findings. There was one discovery he made that he explained and that was fascinating. But other aspects of his personal experiences such as tripping on mushrooms for the first time could have been reduced or cut.

The time lapses we're really beautiful throughout, I loved seeing the different species bloom to live or break down decaying wildlife and food. That was all really incredible to see. I truly believe in the overarching message of this, which is that fungi have the ability to regulate and control just about everything. They're an amazing part of nature, and all nature deserves to be respected.

'Mycelium is the mother of us all'...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 1 December 2020]

An outstanding sporegasm of a documentary about the enchanting and mysterious world of fungi and the phenomenal power it has to perpetuate life and rebirth from death and decay. Love the stoned ape hypothesis - magic!

Absolutely Beautiful CGI

[KyleDial · 6/10 · 1 August 2021]

Before I say anything else I just wanted to mention that the CGI is absolutely beautiful in the documentary. I was surprised to see no other review mentioned the stunning CGI. The graphics are hands down one of the best I've ever seen in a documentary, especially the scene that shows the tree/mycelium network.

The documentary starts off pretty good, it offers a lot of interesting information and explores the world of fungi. We get introduced to a few scientists/hobbyists who make up the work of fungi research (They all look exactly how you'd expect a mushroom researcher to look haha). I particularly liked learning about how trees will use the mycelium network to give nutrients to each other.

The second half of the documentary does take a turn for the worst. The documentary switches from being about the fungi, to being about the people that like fungi. Though I do enjoy the people's enthusiasms for the field, It made the documentary slow down substantially and I found myself losing attention. You could cut off the last 30 minutes or so and the documentary would be amazing.

Overall, I recommend watching Fantastic Fungi but don't feel guilty turning it off towards the end because you won't miss much.

Misdirected hate from some reviewers - But is in reality quite a beautiful documentary. Watch this one.

[pratermb · 9/10 · 30 August 2022]

People seem to miss the picture here. This documentary was obviously meant to inform at a very basic level, and to let people know that there is an exponential growth in interest going on in the world of fungi research and understanding. Bad reviewers en masse call it "pseudoscience" even though the content is true. It's just very basic in its depth/explanation. Ironically, these reviewers are doing exactly what they talked about in the documentary itself. They don't understand it and/or are afraid of experiencing psychedelics, and they point fingers. Anyone that's had the experience is going to appreciate the work that went into making this as relatable as possible. Yes, it feels like "sales" because it's encouraging you to just learn and open your mind. That's it.

Now, as for the movie itself. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was organized in a way that, to me, was fun visually to watch and interesting/entertaining to listen to. In the second half, the explaining of the significance of fungi in nature then transitions into speaking to the significance of fungi, more specifically mushrooms, the fruit of the fungi world, and to its significance to us. Human beings.

The only reason I didn't give this 10 stars is because they cut they missed an opportunity in longer and meaningful production and should have started going into a little more of the technical stuff after that part to keep more people interested. But otherwise, well done.

Interesting and beautiful; a bit slow towards the end.

[vithiet · 7/10 · 3 April 2021]

The footage is great and there is a lot of good information in this documentary. For some reason though, I found the second part to be bit slow with all the commentary and they lost me when they started going too far into the psychedelic aspect of things.

Fungi a mysterious world in front of your eyes

[sofiaSfromPasto · 8/10 · 14 May 2022]

Before this documentary, I wasn't aware of just how important and useful fungi are, when I heard the word "fungi" ... I imagined saprophyte fungi, discomposing something or fungus in the wall, but they also maintain the entire ecosystem! Eliminating harmful components and creating an oasis. They're related to all aspects of life, they made life possible, at the beginning they help us surviving, at the end they use us to allow other organisms to thrive.

It's just wonderful... I recommend it to you, and I'll rate it 8.5********

The "Magical Mushrooms Mystery Tour"

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 1 February 2020]

"Fantastic Fungi: The Magic Beneath Us" (2019 release;81 min.) is a documentary about the amazing fungi and related mushrooms. As the movie opens, we watch, through the use of time lapse photography, as fungi come about, and how mushrooms, one looking weirder yet more beautiful than the other, rise from the ground up. Narrator Brie Larson informs us of the amazing feats that fungi, neither a plant nor an animal but somewhere in between, can achieve. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from veteran documentarian Louie Schwartzberg. Here he brings us an intimate look at the world of fungi. Using Paul Stamets, a noted expert biologist in fungi, as the steady center, we are given a history and biology lesson on how important fungi are to this planet and to us. The movie takes a number of side bars, including the role of psychedelic mushrooms in the 1960s, and its relevance for today. There is a LOT of information that is unloaded onto us in the interviews and the voice overs, as we watch the fantastic photography. After a while I pretty much toned out the narration and instead just watched. At one point, Stamets refers to the "magical mushrooms mystery tour" and that about sums it up for me.

I saw this film at a special showing this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The place was PACKED to the rafters, literally sold out down to the last seat. Before the film came on, the theater's manager addressed the crowd, informing us that this is the third time they have shown the movie recently, and each time well over 200 tickets were sold, and that already a 4th showing is planned. "I am as baffled as you are", the manager said. (I personally had expected at most a handful of people as well.) Bottom line: if you have any interest in amazing footage about fungi and mushrooms, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you can), on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Deeply unsatisfying infomercially dominated ephemera

[ddstretch · 4/10 · 12 July 2021]

I thought this would start out well, and it did show promise. However, it quickly degenerated into a kind of superficial wowee style of the worst kind of YouTube infomercial masquerading as a kind of documentary where a lot of the graphics were repetitive, the music sounded like a desperate attempt to give uplifting value to what meagre content there was, and there was a superficial yet completely dominating substantial section dealing with psychedelics. Very disappointing. I guess to people brought up in an information-meagre environment where presentation counts for more than content it might have been impressive, but to me it really wasn't.

interesting, informative, entertaining

[ferguson-6 · 8/10 · 14 October 2019]

Greetings again from the darkness. Why did the mushroom get invited to the party? Because he's a fun guy (fungi)! That joke works better when spoken rather than read, but it made me laugh as a kid, even though it wasn't enough to keep me (and half my classmates) awake during those dull science films in junior high. Documentarian Louie Schwartzberg obviously stayed awake in class, and now he's showing us how those films should be made ... interesting, informative and entertaining.

"We brought life to Earth. You can't see us. We are mushrooms!" Narrator Brie Larson (yes, Captain Marvel herself) introduces fungus, or more accurately, fungi ... since we are told there are 1.5 million species - 20,000 of which produce mushrooms. Despite the presence of Ms. Larson, this isn't a superhero movie. No, it's much more important. In fact, the real star of the documentary - other than fungi - is an amateur mycologist named Paul Stamets. That's right, this informative project devotes much of its time to some guy who just likes science (oh my, does he like it); specifically, the study of fungus and mushrooms. He even tells us some of his personal story, allowing us to connect with a guy who is proud to be known as a mushroom nerd.

Director Schwartzberg is an accomplished documentarian, and noted time-lapse photographer and visual artist. He even uses impressive digital animation periodically to guide us along. He's also smart enough to complement Mr. Stamets' observations with input from real life scientists, as well as authors and researchers. Admittedly, it's not really fair to classify Stamets as an amateur. He has written books and his research has been invaluable to some of the world's foremost experts.

You may wonder why you should care about fungi. Heck, it's described as something between vegetable and animal. We hear that it's been around since the beginning, and that it plays a role in rebirth, reincarnation, and regeneration. This is shown via a memorable time-lapse segment, and with the bold proclamation that Mycelium is "the mother of us all." We learn how fungi is such a vital part of our existence through medical research, penicillin (and chees), antibiotics, bio-terrorism, psychedelics, and now even the treatment of depression and cancer. Fungi can feed you (it's good on pizza), heal you, and even kill you. The film is quite a fascinating and educational treat ... and a lesson in biological resilience. And I never once fell asleep - my junior high teacher wouldn't believe it.

Intended to reach, and to ask you to explore...

[vibrationsofdoom · 8/10 · 3 February 2022]

I get what people are saying here... Let's set that aside for a minute however. The visuals are absolutely stunning first off... I imagine many 4k screensavers will become intertwined into the "deep web" of people's PC's in due time... This alone makes the "documentary," as it were, worth your time...

I think what people are missing out on is just how vital to the ecosystem mushrooms are... Not many people in this day and age that I've met seem to be getting the same kind of education that was given out in classrooms during the 70's and 80's. To reach people you have to give them a sense of hope, positivity and something worth reaching for. This documentary does that WELL...

First off, a little background: my son's mother is heavily into herbal medicine and I've learned and SEEN firsthand the dramatic healing effects of herbs and plant (and mushroom based) medicines... Someone I know contracted spinal meningitis which, if you know ANYTHING about this, has a less than 5% survival rate. Not only did she survive, but what she carried into this made all but certain she would be one of the less than 5%... It is a dramatic story that STILL has the doctors baffled to this day, and something she knew and took for granted.

The stories in this "documentary" are TRUE... I have read the reports of mushrooms that cleaned up oil spills in the Gulf. The utilization of mycelium threads to create batteries could have a revolutionary and profound change in the microchip industry, something that technological companies are having troubles with at this moment (I am an amateur stock trader as well, so I read the news reports every day). And the altered states of consciousness? Well, some of these guys might seem like "old druggie hippies," but what would have given this documentary even MORE credibility would have been to mention the Native American Indians who utilized mushroom teas for clarity and insight.

It's a biased slant to be sure on the part of some of these reviewers, but they seem to be poo-poo'ing decades of quality scientific research. Research papers that I personally have read and studied... In an era where we allow presidents to call scientists with 10 and 15 year studies and masters and bachelor's degrees "stupid," sadly it speaks to just how far gone we as a species have gone. When we celebrate stupidity rather than enlightened, knowledgeable learning and scientific discovery.

Mushrooms are amazing pieces of creation. They help keep life going and have for millions, maybe even billions, of years. Yes, cutting down endless amounts of trees is not going to help this planet, but at least we can seemingly be assured in the knowledge that long after we're gone, the 'shrooms will still be here.

Movies like this are designed to get you to "do more research..." I stopped the movie several times to research and look up the various mushrooms talked about, just to see and learn more for myself. You could ironically consider this movie a "gateway" into a LITERAL underground world that most people walk by and never even consider.

And to those claiming this movie is "political?" The movie did an EXCELLENT job of showing how politics kills off scientific innovation and discovery. This has happened MANY times in our past, and keeps humanity stuck in the dark ages. Let us not forget what happened to the mathematicians like Hypatia who discovered long ago that earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun, challenging rigid and unnecessary religious dogma saying the sun revolves around the Earth (hint, Hypatia was murdered by the church). Or more recently, how the Bush administration outlawed stem cell research when it had the potential to save millions of lives and impact humanity in a meaningful way.

Not what you think it is going to be...

[alexanderhatkins · 6/10 · 20 January 2021]

This was good but it focuses mostly on one guy and his story with mushrooms. If it was presented this way it would be rated higher.

Watch it it may change your life

[pazcur · 9/10 · 12 November 2021]

Sure it feels like a promotional video at times but it cites multiple scientific studies and FDA has approved the usage of psychedelic mushrooms for treatment of anxiety and depression. So although the reviews here maybe true on some level (too negative imho) what matters is that this video may introduce you to the world of fungi and it may very well change your life.

great visuals but flawed vision

[robin-hectors · 6/10 · 29 January 2021]

What starts as a great introduction into the world of our mycological friends ends in a typicaly american ego booster for an american scientist. Grand exagerations and bold claims are interspersed with nuanced insights and great visuals of beautiful mushrooms.

a nice timekiller

Inspired and Accurate

[ssochet · 10/10 · 26 March 2020]

Being a trained mycologist, I found it quite heartening to see Paul Stamets and others actually use the correct pronunciation (Fun-jai) and instead of (Fun-guy) or (Fun-gee). The graphics used to show the ubiquitous nature of fungal mycelia in the soil was amazing. The time-lapsed photography is phenomenal and the few inserted personal storylines are effectively portrayed. There is an informative, extensive sequence on the medical use of Psilocybe for helping people with anxiety and other conditions. I watched this via VIMEO and unfortunately there weren't subtitles which would be helpful to keep note and track when they are using scientific names.

Overly sentimental

[larssonabout · 6/10 · 5 June 2022]

As someone already interested in the subject matter, it was disappointing that the film eventually eschews this, giving way to an overwrought, sentimental one man's journey to redemption, which is not what I signed up for.

Give Nature a Chance

[ernestrx · 10/10 · 29 July 2021]

Some of the best time lapse photography shots I have seen await you should you take the time to watch. Putting the brilliant filmography aside, the scientific information exposed will blow your mind.

All the nonsense that we currently experience today through the multitude of medias will take a backseat, if not eradicated if we all follow the message in this brilliant production. A must watch. You may learn something.

I've been told by many, that I too, am a fantastic fungi

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7 April 2020]

So I decided to watch this documentary. It was very informative and interesting - well put together, but I feel I'm less of a fungi now.

Nice visuals but this is made for stoners

[vincent-janse · 6/10 · 5 October 2021]

It's a very pretty documentary but this is clearly made for stoners and magical mushroom enthusiasts. It's extremely superfluous and and has very little to do with any real science or investigation. How ever it does grab the imagination and I think it's a fun watch.

*Fantastic magic mushrooms

[TinyThoughts · 5/10 · 31 July 2021]

Too much people telling how amazing fungi is, too little people telling why fungi is amazing.

Gorgeous timelapses though.

My God this was a beautiful impactful movie

[rajgopalmuralidharbackup · 10/10 · 27 August 2021]

Ok yeah sure it gets a little infomercially at points and some of the points don't connect but the overarching message is so beautiful and the delivery so impactful I implore people to discover this on Netflix and share with family and friends. Psychedelic mushrooms have the capacity to bring about world peace and a new technological golden age. We'd be criminally remiss in ignoring their potential. Also the 4K time lapse and CGI was jaw dropping.