Quartile rating: 5/10 · 1 rating
Amanda is a divorced woman who makes a living as a photographer. During the Fall of the year Amanda begins to see the world in new and different ways when she begins to question her role in life, her relationships with her career and men and what it all means. As the layers to her everyday experiences fall away insertions in the story with scientists, and philosophers and religious leaders impart information directly to an off-screen interviewer about academic issues, and Amanda begins to understand the basis to the quantum world beneath. During her epiphany as she considers the Great Questions raised by the host of inserted thinkers, she slowly comprehends the various inspirations and begins to see the world in a new way.
What the #$*! Do We Know blends docudrama with quantum physics pop-philosophy in an unusual hybrid format, earning modest novelty points for its unconventional structure mixing fictional narrative with talking-head interviews. However, the pseudoscientific framing (notably featuring channeler Ramtha) undermines credibility, the dramatic storyline with Marlee Matlin is thin and underdeveloped, the cinematography is functional at best, and the ending offers little resolution beyond vague spiritual uplift. The acting in the dramatic segments is passable but unremarkable. Its distinctiveness as a format earns it a slight edge in novelty, but across all other dimensions it sits below average.