Deep Dive: The Thinking Game (2025)
Film Lens
Greg Kohs began his journey with DeepMind in 2016 when he made "AlphaGo," documenting the AI program's defeat of the world Go champion[1]. Now, "The Thinking Game" represents the culmination of five years of filming[2], capturing the next chapter in Demis Hassabis's pursuit of artificial general intelligence. Kohs, a ten-time Emmy winner who honed his craft at NFL Films[3], applies his signature "captured not contrived" approach to document history in real time. The film succeeds not as corporate hagiography but as intimate portraiture of scientific obsession, following Hassabis from his chess prodigy origins at age four[4] through his transformation into what may be the most consequential AI researcher of our era.
The documentary captures the exhilaration of AlphaFold's breakthrough—a program that solved a 50-year grand challenge in biology[5]. This achievement earned Hassabis and John Jumper the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for protein structure prediction"[6]. Hassabis had declared his goal of winning Nobel prizes with AI tools in 2019, achieving it in just five years[7]. The 83-minute film[8] transforms abstract computational breakthroughs into human drama, revealing the crushing weight of scientific setbacks alongside moments of historic triumph.
Why Watch
- •The documentary captures pivotal moments during five years of filming, including the groundbreaking achievement of AlphaFold[15]
- •AlphaFold can predict the structure of virtually all 200 million known proteins and has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries[16]
- •The film addresses artificial intelligence in an "unusually accessible way, carefully bringing the audience along to help us understand the complex world of machine learning"[17]
- •Director Kohs emphasizes the inspirational value: "It's really about inspiring clever, young people to pursue their passion, to persevere despite challenges. Demis' story is so compelling. I learned so much from watching him operate"[18]
Did You Know
•"Song Sung Blue," Kohs's documentary about a Neil Diamond tribute band, was adapted into a Universal Pictures feature film starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson[9]
•Google acquired DeepMind for approximately half a billion dollars in 2014[10]
Perfect For
Science enthusiasts curious about AI's practical applicationsDocumentary lovers who appreciate intimate portraits of visionariesViewers seeking accessible explanations of complex scientific breakthroughsThose interested in the intersection of technology and human ambition
Awards
•World Premiere at 2024 Tribeca Festival[11]
•Featured a post-screening conversation with Demis Hassabis and Greg Kohs, moderated by Darren Aronofsky[12]
•IMDb rating of 7.6/10 from 730 users[13]
•City AM rated 4/5 stars, calling it "a well-explained tribute to innovation that will be accessible to even the least tech-savvy"[14]
References
[1] aintitcool.com ↗[2] rocofilms.com ↗[3] tribecafilm.com ↗[4] aintitcool.com ↗[5] rocofilms.com ↗[6] nobelprize.org ↗[7] nature.com ↗[8] about.proquest.com ↗[9] studio.aifilms.ai ↗[10] theconversation.com ↗[11] about.proquest.com ↗[12] tribecafilm.com ↗[13] imdb.com ↗[14] rottentomatoes.com ↗[15] rottentomatoes.com ↗[16] nobelprize.org ↗[17] rottentomatoes.com ↗[18] about.proquest.com ↗