The Thinking Game
Ranked 2 of 17 documentary films by recommenders
Recommended as an inspiring look at DeepMind's origins, the AlphaFold win and the Move 37 moment. Common caveat: critics call it a puff piece that skips technical depth.
Recommended as an inspiring look at DeepMind's origins, the AlphaFold win and the Move 37 moment. Common caveat: critics call it a puff piece that skips technical depth.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 65%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Inspiring look at DeepMind
“absolutely fascinating and inspirational documentary about DeepMind and Demis Hassabis”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Google 2025 recap: Research breakthroughs of the year” “I thought the documentary was inspiring.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” Captures AlphaFold and Move 37 moments
“the way it captured the emotional triumph of the AlphaFold achievement”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” “They do a great job capturing the "Move 37" moment”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” Shows Demis Hassabis at his best
“absolutely fascinating and inspirational documentary about DeepMind and Demis Hassabis”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Google 2025 recap: Research breakthroughs of the year” “If you really want to see Demis shine watch The Thinking Game”
Comment from 29 Apr 2026 in “How to Build the Future: Demis Hassabis [video]”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Promotional hype and AI-washing
“submitting this to a number of film festivals like Tribeca seems a bit AI-washing”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” “Makes it seem that AI is a one-man show while also feeding the hype cycle”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” “having finished the film, it's far more propagandic than it began as”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” Puff piece that glosses over later events
“I would have loved a little more technical depth, but I guess that's pretty much standard for a puff piece.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” “The movie seems like a fluff piece when you find out what has transpired at DeepMind subsequently”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public” Light on technical depth and substance
“I would have loved a little more technical depth, but I guess that's pretty much standard for a puff piece.”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “The Thinking Game Film – Google DeepMind documentary” “There was nothing to learn, no red thead, just people telling anecdodes from start to finish.”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “'The Thinking Game' [video]”
Other documentary films people recommend
The four most recommended other documentary films, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| You Can See Everything | 39 | 30 | 57% | 2 | — | — |
| The Thinking GameThis page | 15 | 8 | 65% | 3 | — | — |
| HyperNormalisation by Adam Curtis | 14 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
| It's Quieter in the Twilight | 12 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| BBS: The Documentary | 11 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
21 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If you really want to see Demis shine watch The Thinking Game”
“There was nothing to learn, no red thead, just people telling anecdodes from start to finish.”
“absolutely fascinating and inspirational documentary about DeepMind and Demis Hassabis”
“The movie seems like a fluff piece when you find out what has transpired at DeepMind subsequently”
“a really great documentary about the fact that you can be idealistic and still make it”
“having the chatbot suggest a chess book opening to Hassabis at the end was cheesy and misleading”
“It's an incredible moment.”
“They do a great job capturing the "Move 37" moment”
“the way it captured the emotional triumph of the AlphaFold achievement”
“Pretty good. There are a couple parts at the start and the end where a lady points her phone camera at stuff and asks an AI about what it sees.”
“i tried to watch it but like AI in general, it was extraordinarily boring”
“I watched that on repeat for more than 10 times.”
“I would have loved a little more technical depth, but I guess that's pretty much standard for a puff piece.”
“Makes it seem that AI is a one-man show while also feeding the hype cycle”
“enjoyed every second of it”
“having finished the film, it's far more propagandic than it began as”
“I thought the documentary was inspiring.”
“The illusion that agency 'emerges' from rules like games, is fundamentally absurd.”
“Made me seriously think about AI and what we should use it for.”
“submitting this to a number of film festivals like Tribeca seems a bit AI-washing”
“Interesting retrospective on DeepMind's origins and pursuit of AGI”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.