The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life (2005) is a twelve-minute animated short by Don Hertzfeldt — watch online on iFILM. It covers a billion years of life on Earth, start to finish, rendered in his signature handdrawn stick figures.

Hertzfeldt's scratchy, deliberately crude line work is the point, not a limitation. The minimalism strips the subject down to something honest: the full scale of evolution compressed into the most lo-fi visual language possible. A quiet, odd film that rewards repeat watching — especially for fans of independent animation who find mainstream studios too comfortable. Stream The Meaning of Life (2005) online on iFILM.