Werner Herzog guides the film as its narrator and questioner. He starts at UCLA, where the first internet message was sent, and then visits labs, a hacker gathering, a West Virginia town without wireless signals, an internet addiction center, and places that study robots and space travel. The film follows the internet from its early days to a future shaped by artificial intelligence, Mars plans, and machines that may replace human contact. The main conflict is whether connection brings people closer or makes them more alone and less free. The tone is curious, funny, uneasy, and sometimes bleak.
The film's strongest human story follows the Catsouras family after cruel people spread photos of their dead daughter online. Other sections examine gaming addiction, privacy, hackers, surveillance, solar flares, self-driving cars, and the risk of a world that depends on the internet. Experts debate whether robots can think, whether the web can dream, and whether people should leave Earth for Mars. Herzog treats these questions as problems of technology, human behavior, and the future, with no single answer.
Community feedback
Was our 2% Woke rating accurate?
Loading review details…
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The documentary uses interview subjects for their direct knowledge or personal experience. It does not frame their identities as a message about representation.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The speakers discuss internet history, privacy, addiction, artificial intelligence, solar flares, and human behavior. They do not use activist or identity-based language.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The main themes concern connection, grief, addiction, machines, and the future of human life. The film does not make race, gender, sexuality, or group identity the subject of its story.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The film warns about online cruelty, government surveillance, system failure, and overdependence on technology. It does not turn these concerns into a modern activist attack on patriarchy, whiteness, capitalism, Christianity, or Western culture.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The documentary does not adapt a story with established characters or change real historical figures for identity reasons.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. No anti-woke or right-leaning complaints were found in the reviewed public reaction. The supplied X check found no such posts, and other coverage focused on technology, Herzog’s style, and the sponsor.
0%
Creator track record context
Werner Herzog has made work about human obsession, nature, and existential questions, along with some broad social and political subjects. His title-related interviews present the film as curiosity about the internet’s glories and harms, not as an identity campaign. The stored score places Herzog at 9/100, while the producers range from 2 to 5. The creative team adds only a small woke track record signal.
9%
Production
Movie · 2016
With stunning views of eruptions and lava flows, Werner Herzog captures the raw power of volcanoes and their ties to indigenous spiritual practices.
Movie · 2022
The inspirational rise of SpaceX as well as Elon Musk's two-decade effort to resurrect America’s space travel ambitions.
Movie · 2023
The remarkable coming-of-age story of Stephen Curry—one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in basketball history—and his rise from an undersized college…
Movie · 2025
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Movie · 2020
Record-shattering Korean girl band BLACKPINK tell their story — and detail the hard fought journey of the dreams and trials behind their meteoric rise.
Movie · 2017
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Movie · 2022
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, the media concocted a narrative that justified a summer of worldwide riots and helped contribute to the rise of Black Lives Matter who…
Movie · 2023
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.
