John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office

John C. Lilly built the isolation tank and pushed the boundaries of dolphin communication and psychedelic research, chasing questions about consciousness that still unsettle scientists and artists. This documentary pieces together his experiments and ideas through interviews with colleagues, surviving friends, and extensive archival footage, including voice and film clips of iconic figures. It carefully maps his early laboratory work, his public advocacy for psychedelics, and the experiments with cetacean cognition, giving context to methods and controversies without revealing any narrative surprises. The film balances technical description with human detail, showing how Lilly's personality, optimism, and eccentric methods shaped both his findings and the cultural myths that followed. Narration and editing stitch interviews and archives into a visually coherent whole.

Directed by Michael Almereyda and Courtney Stephens, the 2025 documentary features Chloë Sevigny as narrator, leans on archival appearances from Alejandro Jodorowsky, Allen Ginsberg, and Timothy Leary, and includes contemporary interviews with Scott McVay and several of Lilly's colleagues today.

After debuting on the festival circuit it received a limited theatrical run aimed at art house audiences, ultimately reaching specialty streaming platforms which helped widen its reach to academic and cinephile viewers despite modest box office receipts and niche focus.

The film reframes Lilly's image in popular culture, showing how the isolation tank became a symbol in music, film, and counterculture. It also reignites debates about animal intelligence, psychedelic ethics, and the line between scientific rigor and personal myth, prompting renewed interest in sensory deprivation and artistic responses and scholarship.

Early reviews praise the archival depth and Sevigny's measured narration while noting ethical tensions around Lilly's methods. Some critics caution against romanticizing eccentricity, raising questions about consent and animal welfare, and reviewers say the film stimulates debate in both academic and art communities about how knowledge and ego interact today.