John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
The daring experimenter Dr. John C. Lilly dedicated his life to radical self-investigation and unlocking the mysteries of consciousness and communication. “My body is my laboratory” was the motto, and his research on the language of dolphins and whales – as well as psychedelics and sensory deprivation – assured his own cult status in 20th-century pop culture as the basis for Ken Russel’s Altered States and Mike Nichols’s The Day of the Dolphin. Directors Michael Almareyda and Courtney Stephens, along with narrator Chloë Sevigny, explore the life of a determined scientist and his experiments into the psychonautical unknown.
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Cast
9 people
Chloë Sevigny
Narrator (voice)
Known for
The Act
American Psycho
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Self
Known for
The Holy Mountain
El Topo
Allen Ginsberg
Self (archive footage)
Known for
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
Timothy Leary
Self (archive footage)
Known for
Shocker
Scott McVay
Self
Hella McVay
Self
Diana Reiss
Self
Gigi Coyle
Self
John Cunningham Lilly
Himself (archive footage)
Michael Almereyda Director · Courtney Stephens Director Rafael Palacio Illingworth Cinematographer
United States release February 25, 2025 · Produced in United States
Production
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Production Grant
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
Netherlands · January 31, 2025
Premiere · International Film Festival Rotterdam
United States · February 25, 2025
Premiere · MoMA Doc Fortnight
United States
February 28, 2025 · Premiere · True/False Film Festival
Australia
August 16, 2025 · Premiere · Melbourne International Film Festival
October 14, 2025 · Premiere · SXSW Sydney
October 20, 2025 · Premiere · Byron Bay International Film Festival
Austria
October 24, 2025 · Premiere · Vienna International Film Festival
Italy
September 27, 2025 · Premiere · Archivio Aperto
Switzerland
April 9, 2025 · Premiere · Visions du Réel
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