matthewhforrest I get that it was supposed to reflect a descent into madness (with memory loss); but it was just too odd for me. Random information discussing situations that really are not that interesting or are the character's taste etc. It seems to have hot the mark for many reviewers and so it may be worth a watch to see if you are among the fans. You will know within minutes whether you will relate to it - so dont waste your time like I did and watch the whole thing (it doesnt improve as it progresses).

DonnyMovieMan Existential spewing that has a lot of great ideas, but it's trying so hard to make you have a revelation that it doesn't realize how unoriginal some of its ideas are. We're just brains floating around. We don't live because we're afraid to die. There's hidden beauty in the world. All of these things are nice ideas but none of them are things I haven't thought of before. The movie wants to tackle everything in huge, broad strokes, and doesn't dig into any of these ideas enough to wow me. It's a little like a older teen who is telling a group of little kids some profound existential whatever he read on the internet about how people are specks and nothing matters and the 8 year olds are eating it up because it's profound. There's not really a ton of wisdom here. Other films like The Tree of Life and American Beauty tackle similar ideas, but they do them with much more detail and I can relate to them on not just vast levels, but personal ones. Sure this movie can be a personal experience for people, but is this movie ACTUALLY changing your life? It's kind of like a politician who rallies up crowds because they know exactly the problems in the country and what needs to be done, but doesn't actually say how they're going to do it. I don't believe life works with the broad strokes the movie paints it with. It approaches life with a birds eye view. Psychological problems or true love, for example, are hardly on this film's mind, yet they are more relevant to actual life, not this fantasized version of life where people are directionless pawns on a chessboard, slaves to mundanity. I liked this movie a lot because it's a good motivator for living life to its fullest and trying to appreciate beauty, but I don't think that it's actually THAT wise or enlightening, and it's not going to make me go outside and cry at a flower. I enjoyed it's animation style a lot and experimental nature and it blends many of its ideas together very well. Problem is, it talks big and lacks detail.

Athena Hiotis What I can tell you is that "It's Such a Beautiful Life" will resonate with you in such a deep way. It had been sitting in my Netflix queue for some time and I'm not exactly sure why I watched it when I did. It was random, middle of the day on a Saturday. Five minutes into it, I had to pause to prepare for what I knew this was going to be: a beautiful tapestry of thoughts and philosophies charged with meaning. There were instances where certain things were said and words appeared on screen with timing that was just perfect and my breath was literally stolen from me. By the end of the short, I had to just bury my head in my hands and just cry. Not because it was overly sad or anything, but because it was reverberating with me so much. It was as though you've known this all along but had long forgotten - like it was from a past life. You WILL enjoy this film whether you are seeking some sort of existential comfort; if you are a fan of Don's work; or you're just curious about it. It's very much like previous shorts of his. You will find yourself laughing, crying, relating. And some of you might find yourselves changed forever.

Louis Gur In a film industry there animated movies are getting more and more advanced, this extreme surprise shows up on Netflix. What a beautiful film this is.Don Hertzfeldt, a director I had never heard of until this day tells the story of a man named Bill, who struggles to put together his shattered psyche. All this is done with very simple, but heartwarming drawings mixed with some live action moments.Like Mary and Max (2009), this animated feature relies heavily on the narrator, who's voice is the only one you hear. We listen to simple stories about life itself, with some very dark humor intended. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but most of all you'll only spend 62 minutes of your life on something that was quite clearly worth it...