That was an excellent one.

Admirable film.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Every review I have read cries how it's not philosophy. Shut up nobody cares, you're not special. Just watch the movie it's entertaining

The idea sounded good and interesting but the execution and the plot are just plain terrible - intelligence isn't all that matters. That's more or less the outcome of this movie about "philosophy". Terrible nonsense and Kitsch, very slow paced and we watch some pretty Hollywood kids talking and talking - and yes, on top we get more talking. In the end, we know that the teacher had an affair with his A+ student. Sigh. But I got lucky, I didn't watch the movie in the cinema so I could use the fast forward button and saved some of my life time, that's what I call smart ;) If you wanna watch nice and clean looking people talking this is the movie for you. Last note: I would prefer mankind cease to exist if the only alternative would be that the kind of ppl portrayed in the movie or the writers of this piece of "art" would carry on the flame of mankind - the IQ in the universe would get an immense boost. Attending this class I would also prefer a) getting the bunker all alone for me with a few good books and some good records or b) the merciful death by nuclear fire instead of being imprisoned ONE+ year with that kind of people, nuclear fire would be a fast and clean death, to kill my mind and soul being in a cage with those kinds of ppl would be too much of a torture (just imagine all that BLABLA 24/7!!!), well, in the end, I am just another mortal being.

This film fails mainly due to it's convoluted idea of what philosophy is. Much like God's Not Dead, the film twists the basic concepts of philosophy to fulfill its own purposes and completely avoids any real attempt at philosophical reasoning or examination. In this case, the supposedly high-honors philosophy class focuses almost entirely on logic problems and fanciful what-if scenarios that have more to do with probability and micro-managing than anything else. Not only does the majority of the lesson totally ignore spirituality, existentialism, and morality, but when they do pop up they are treated as if they are enemies of philosophical thought because the defy cold reasoning and logic in some way. Then there's the professor, who intentionally cheats and manipulates the "mind games" just to agitate the boyfriend of one of the students he slept with, which would have been an interesting twist if it actually ended up having any real impact on the topics at hand. The fact alone that an advanced philosophy class would discuss a scenario involving perpetuation of the human species after a cataclysmic event without even debating the need to do so sets this film far below the intellectual level it so desperately wants to display. It's a good thing that they changed the title from The Philosophers, as that would have been a worst case example of false advertising. Or to sum up: there's nothing worse than a film that thinks it's smarter than it is.

In response to the vast weight of negative posts about this movie, I would like to say: I loved it. Saw it more than a year ago - and it's occupied my mind periodically ever since. I'm a fan of the post-apocalypse genre. A big fan. But that doesn't mean I like just any movie dealing with it. This was far and away the most thought provoking and intelligent movie on the subject I can remember seeing. I wish I had a philosophy teacher that asked questions like these (although not necessarily doing some of the other things this teacher did). Fully absorbed from start to finish. Loved the way the story played out differently each time. I don't get all the negativity about it - it was so novel. So unusual. For a movie of this genre, to go in this direction - making me think deeply about what I would do - who I would chose - it was just so refreshingly original. It exposes prejudices and intolerance. It shows you that your first and most practical thoughts may not be the best - especially when you add information you didn't know at first - totally changing the calculation. There are surprises and unanticipated developments. WHY DIDN'T THEY ENTER ALL THE COMBINATIONS TO GET OUT!!????Okay, that's a question I asked myself as well. That's one of my points - it makes you ask these questions. It's not a "plot hole". It's the outcome of a thought experiment in which not all the best decisions were made - leading to a disastrous outcome. Then there is the debate about whether it's "fair" to have part of the first scenario figure into the second scenario. Remember that this is a thought experiment. This is not really happening - they are just exploring possibilities in their minds, in a philosophy class. ANYTHING is valid in such a setting. Have you never just had an idea and let your mind run with it? It doesn't have to make perfect sense. I am so enamored of this movie that I have described it in detail to my coworkers - and they were on the edge of their seats, just listening to my account. Splendid. Incredibly original and gripping. That's my take on it.