Andy Weir’s most underrated film adaptation is now streaming for free on YouTube – SlashFilm

In 2009, science fiction author Andy Weir (best known as the author of “The Martian” and “Project Hail Mary”) wrote a short story called “The Egg.” This novel is so deep that it may actually change the way you behave. The story followed an ordinary 48-year-old man who died in a car accident. The story is told in the second person and is told by a “being” who speaks in the first person. The being, God or other supreme spiritual being, explains that reincarnation is a reality and that you will soon be reborn into a new body. Specifically, it will be a girl in China in 540 AD.

The being explains that you are in fact the only soul in the entire universe, and that over a very long timeline you are slowly reincarnating as every being that has ever existed on Earth. You are Jesus, you are Abraham Lincoln, you are all the victims of the Holocaust. Everyone you hurt is you. Everyone you loved was you too. All humans are the same humans. After experiencing all life, you are reborn as God. The universe is God’s egg, and all human history is just a gestation period.

In an interview with Grimdark Magazine, Weir said that “The Egg” was completed in about 40 minutes. Perhaps he was musing on various theological matters.

In 2019, German animation studio Kurzgesagt released an eight-minute short film called “The Egg.” The film was made with Weir’s blessing and is currently available on YouTube. You can watch it today, but be sure to set aside some time because you’ll end up crying later.

“The Egg” was part of a larger, multi-year animated series produced by Kurzgesagt called “Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell.” The series is a dreamy, speculative show that asks questions like what would happen if all the nuclear bombs on Earth were detonated at the same time. “The Egg” was the 19th episode of season 7. It was directed by Philip Dettmer and adapted from a screenplay by James Gurney, who is perhaps best known for writing and illustrating the elaborate “Dinotopia.” The film was narrated by Steve Taylor.

When asked about “The Egg” by Gromdark Magazine, Weir was modest. Of course, he liked the idea of ​​this story, but he had no intention of turning it into a particularly profound theological text. He didn’t expect people to be as attached to it as they have been. he said:

“I did one editorial pass and posted it on my site. I didn’t expect it to become important. It was just one of many short stories I wrote during that time. Then it exploded and became very popular. I was happy about that. But every once in a while I get an email from someone who believes:egg” That’s actually true. I always try to tell them I don’t think that’s true. It’s just a story I made up. I don’t think there are any people left behind on Mars. These are just stories. ”

Of course, the idea that there is a single soul in the universe and that we are all the same human being is felt very deeply and may inspire a person to be more kind to other human beings. Weir probably extrapolated his story from a number of ancient texts and spiritual texts that imagine the universe as a giant egg.

The fun and diplomatic lines in “The Egg” are about religion. The first thing the character in “You” says when she learns she will be reborn is: “So the Hindus were right.” The Supreme Being points out that all religions are right “in their own way.”

Coincidentally, “The Egg” has been made into a movie many times. According to IMDb, there is a 2025 film titled “I, God” directed by Matija Max Vidovic, which is also based on this story. Daniel Vanchik Herranz produced a short film in 2023, and Fred Grant produced a version in 2020. There was another adaptation produced by Andrei Dožić in 2019, and a short story by Timothy Judd called “An Egg” in 2018. Natalia Weaver produced a film in 2018, and there was also an adaptation by Joseph Orlandi in 2015. The first adaptation of “The Egg” was the 2012 short story “Ägget” by Hjalmar Ekström Vikander and Tage Wikander Hellven. As you can tell from all these filmmaker names, adaptations of “The Egg” come from all over the world.

Of course, Weir’s novels The Martian and Project Hail Mary have also been made into popular feature films, the former directed by Ridley Scott in 2015 and the latter directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in 2026. Weir is a thoughtful writer with a penchant for scientific detail, but also a penchant for the whimsical. In his view, humanity’s greatest strength appears to be its ability to maintain humor in the face of cosmic cataclysms. That’s also impressive.

I am He, as you are He, as you are Me, and we are all together. He is the “egg” man. Goo goo goo jubu.