Andy Weir's Most Underrated Adaptation Is Streaming For Free On YouTube

In 2009, sci-fi author Andy Weir — better known as the author of "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" — penned a short story called "The Egg," which is so profound, it might actually alter the way you behave. The story followed a nondescript 48-year-old man after he died in a car accident. The story is addressed in the second person and narrated by "the being," who speaks in the first person. The being, who is God or some other supreme spiritual presence, explains that transmigration is real and that you will soon be reincarnated into a new body. Specifically, you will become a girl in China in the year AD 540. 

The being explains that you are actually the only soul in the entire universe, and that, over a very, very long timeline, you are slowly being reincarnated as every being who has ever existed on planet Earth. You are Jesus, you are Abraham Lincoln, you are every single Holocaust victim. Every person you harmed is you. Every person you loved was also you. Every human being is the same person. Once every life has been experienced, you will be reincarnated as a god. The universe is a god egg, and all of human history is a mere gestational period. 

In an interview with Grimdark Magazine, Weir noted that "The Egg" was something that he just banged it out in about 40 minutes. Perhaps he had just been musing on various theological whatsits.

In 2019, a German animation studio called Kurzgesagt released an eight-minute short film adaptation of "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 save some time for all the weeping you'll do afterward. 

"The Egg" was part of a large, years-long animated series that Kurzgesagt produces, called "Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell." The series is a dreamy, contemplative show asking questions like what would happen if we detonated all of Earth's nuclear bombs at the same time. "The Egg" was the 19th episode of the seventh season. It was directed by Philipp Dettmer, and the script was adapted by James Gurney, perhaps best known for writing and painting the elaborate "Dinotopia" books. The film was narrated by Steve Taylor. 

When asked about "The Egg" for Gromdark Magazine, Weir was modest. He liked the ideas in the story, of course, but he didn't ever intend for it to be a particularly profound theological text. He didn't expect people to attach themselves to it the way they did. He said: 

"I did a single edit pass then posted it to my site. I didn't expect it to be significant. It was just one of many short stories I wrote in that period. Then it blew up and got really popular. I'm glad it did. But I do get the occasional email from someone who believes 'The Egg' is actually true. I always make sure to tell them I don't think it's true. It's just a story I made up. I also don't believe there's a guy stranded on Mars. These are just stories." 

Of course, the notion that the universe contains a single soul and that we are all the same person can feel quite profound and may inspire one to be kinder to one's fellow humans. Weir likely extrapolated his story from many ancient texts and spiritual writings that envision the cosmos as an enormous egg. 

A fun, diplomatic line from "The Egg" concerns religion. When the "you" character learns that he is to be reincarnated, his first thought is to say, "So, the Hindus were right." The supreme being notes that all religions are right "in their own way." 

As it so happens, "The Egg" has been adapted to film numerous times. According to IMDb, there is a 2025 film titled "I, God," directed by Matija Max Vidovich, that is also based on the story. Daniel Banchik Herranz made a short film of it in 2023, and Fred Grant made a version in 2020. There was another 2019 adaptation made by Andrej Dojkic, and a 2018 short called "An Egg" by Timothy Judd. Nataliia Weaver made the 2018 film, and there seems to have been a 2015 adaptation by Josef Orlandi. The earliest adaptation of "The Egg" was the 2012 short "Ägget" by Hjalmar Ekström Wikander and Tage Wikander Hervén. As one can see from all these filmmakers' names, adaptations of "The Egg" come from all over the world.

Of course, Weir's novels "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" have been adapted into popular feature films as well, with the former directed by Ridley Scott in 2015 and the latter by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in 2026. Weir is a thoughtful writer with a penchant for scientific detail, but also a penchant for whimsy. In his view, humanity's greatest strength seems to be our capacity for retaining our good humor in the face of cosmic cataclysm. That, too, is inspirational. 

I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together. He is the "Egg" man. Goo-goo-g'joob.