Waking Life

Waking Life is a 2001 American adult animated surrealist drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. The series of philosophical discussions at the film's core are processed by a young man who wanders through a succession of dreamlike realities wherein he encounters a series of characters playing themselves.

Shot in Mini DV camera, the film was edited digitally in animation through rotoscoping. It contains several parallels to Linklater's 1990 film Slacker. Waking Life premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and was released on October 19, 2001. It received critical acclaim but underperformed at the box office.