The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a 2026 American documentary film directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell. It is produced by the Academy Award–winning teams behind Everything Everywhere All at Once (Daniel Kwan and Jonathan Wang) and Navalny (Shane Boris and Diane Becker).
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The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a 2026 American documentary film directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell. It is produced by the Academy Award–winning teams behind Everything Everywhere All at Once (Daniel Kwan and Jonathan Wang) and Navalny (Shane Boris and Diane Becker).
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2026, which was followed by a theatrical release in the United States on March 27, 2026, by Focus Features.
Premise
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
Told through the perspective of filmmaker Daniel Roher as he prepares to become a father, the film investigates the existential threats and potential promises of artificial intelligence. Roher conducts interviews with leading experts in the field to understand the world his child will inherit, balancing anxiety with "apocaloptimism".
Production
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
The documentary is co-directed by Daniel Roher, who previously won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Navalny (2022), and Charlie Tyrell, known for his Oscar-shortlisted short My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes.
The production brings together two filmmaking teams: Roher's collaborators Shane Boris and Diane Becker, and Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Jonathan Wang.
In October 2024, Focus Features acquired worldwide rights to the film, with its parent Universal Pictures handling international distribution.
Release
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist was selected for the "Premieres" section at the Sundance Film Festival, where it made its debut on January 27, 2026.
It was released in U.S. theaters by Focus Features on March 27, 2026.
Reception
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 38 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.