critics consensus

As visually dazzling as it is thought-provoking, Fantastic Fungi sets out to make audiences see mushrooms differently -- and brilliantly succeeds. Read critic reviews

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Fantastic Fungi Videos

Fantastic Fungi: Trailer 1

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Fantastic Fungi Photos

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Movie Info

The magical world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth.

Genre:

documentary
Original Language:

English
Director:

Louie Schwartzberg
Producer:

Lyn Davis Lear, Louie Schwartzberg, Elease Lui Stemp
Writer:

Mark Monroe
Release Date (Theaters):

Oct 11, 2019 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 7, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA):

$933.4K
Runtime:

1h 21m
Production Co:

Moving Art Studio, Reconsider
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Brie Larson
Narrator

Tony D. Head
Self

Louie Schwartzberg
Director

Mark Monroe
Writer

Lyn Davis Lear
Producer

Louie Schwartzberg
Producer

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Fantastic Fungi

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Critic Reviews for Fantastic Fungi

All Critics (22) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (22)

The liberal use of speeded-up footage of growth and decay is unfailingly spectacular, while Stamets and fellow interviewees have a gift for a memorable turn of phrase.

November 6, 2020 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Andrew Pulver
Guardian
Louie Schwartzberg's documentary is a dreamy, informative, and hopeful dive into the world of mushrooms and fungi

March 20, 2020 | Full Review…

Bilge Ebiri
Spirituality & Health
But visual affectations aside, Fantastic Fungi is an engaging look at the scope of an organism that is so much more than a pizza topping or an ingredient in beef stroganoff.

December 5, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Josh Kupecki
Austin Chronicle
I don't think I have to tell people what mushrooms can do, but this movie is set out to be a mind-blowing trip about the world of fungi.

October 28, 2019 | Full Review…

Amy Nicholson
FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Fantastic Fungi is never uninteresting, and often startling in the natural beauty it reveals.

October 25, 2019 | Full Review…

Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
[I]t edges a little too close to being a commercial, but that's a nitpick when the 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.

October 24, 2019 | Full Review…

Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
It may be a fairly simple specimen as far as documentaries go, but this tribute to mushrooms and mould soon grew on me.

November 9, 2020 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)
fascinating, educational and entertaining.

November 4, 2020 | Full Review…

Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
One of the most positive and hopeful documentaries in years, this lean, beautiful, entertaining mushroom movie suggests that the answers to many of our problems could grow naturally and abundantly.

March 27, 2020 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Jeffrey M. Anderson
Common Sense Media
[The film seeks] to reshape our relationship with mushrooms and our western notion of fearing their power. [Reducing] the stigma surrounding the subject may save your life.

January 15, 2020 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Jared Mobarak
Jaredmobarak.com
If [fungus] doesn't sound beautiful, you haven't reckoned with the amazing time-lapse photography director Louie Schwartzberg and his team has shot and collected here.

November 15, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Sean P. Means
The Movie Cricket
Magic mushrooms, be my guide.

October 25, 2019 | Full Review…

Christopher Llewellyn Reed
Hammer to Nail