Experiencing Interruptions?

Right Between Your Ears

Many people have a strong sense that their views are right and couldn’t possibly be wrong. So how do we come to hold an unshakable conviction and why is it hard to consider that we could be mistaken?

Through the eyes of a group of people convinced that they knew the date of the end of the world, ‘Right between your Ears’ explores how people believe, how we turn beliefs into certainties, and mistake them for the truth.

A stock trader with a young family, a philosophy student about to graduate and a retail manager who became so convinced she quit her job of 18 years. As they face the consequences of their conviction, neuroscience and social psychology offer insight into how we can become convinced we're right, even when we’re wrong.

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"A fun and warmhearted look at a community of doomsayers as they face the day of judgment, it ends up saying a great deal about how we all think." Louis Theroux - Filmmaker

“Right Between Your Ears is an engaging, kind and sober film about a hugely important topic: what happens when people who are absolutely certain of something realize they are wrong. The filmmakers have pinpointed how crucial cognitive dissonance is in many of the world’s problems, and have probed the topic in a really appealing way.”
Jon Ronson - best-selling author of "The Men Who Stare at Goats" and "The Psychopath Test"

  • Sheila Marshall
    Director
  • Kris De Meyer
    Producer
  • Sheila Marshall
    Producer
    Outtakes US Presidents (BBC)
  • Ariadna Fatjo-Vilas
    Editors
    The Act of Killing ; A Doctor's Sword ; Estate, a Reverie
  • Marianne Kuoppanporti
    Editors
    Operation Bethlehem
  • Sheila Marshall
    Editors
  • Kris De Meyer
    Writer
  • Sheila Marshall
    Writer
  • John-Christian Bateman
    Narrator
    9/11: Heroes of the 88th floor ; Bodyshock
  • Java Films
    Sales Agent / Distributor
    Banking Nature ; Money for Nothing
  • Ada Bodjolle
    Animators
  • Jorge Puig
    Composer
    Hijos de las Estrellas
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Human interest, Observational, Science
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 2 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    70,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD 1920x1080
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Astra Film Festival
    Sibiu
    Romania
    October 20, 2016
    European
    Afterwards selected for "Astra on Tour" programme (as 1 of 6 out of 100 screened)
  • American Psychological Association Film Festival
    Washington DC
    United States
    August 5, 2017
    Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    September 10, 2017
    North American Premiere
    Special Mention
  • Sydney Lift Off Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    November 21, 2017
    Australian Premiere
    Best Feature Documentary
  • London Lift Off Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    December 9, 2017
    UK
    Official Selection
  • Lift Off Global Network Season Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 12, 2018
    Best Feature Documentary
  • Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival
    Sebastopol, California
    United States
    March 26, 2018
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Java Films
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
  • Syndicado
    Country: United States
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
    Country: Canada
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
Director Biography - Sheila Marshall

Sheila has worked in film and television for 10 years cutting her teeth on productions like Love Actually, Daniel Deronda, Battle of the Sexes and Night and Day. She has worked in production on comedy series The Mighty Boosh and BBC documentary series The Story of India. Sheila worked in development on the UK Film Council’s and Film 4’s Cinema Extreme scheme and later for Baby Cow Productions where she also produced Outtakes: US Presidents for BBC. Right Between Your Ears is her first feature documentary as director.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Post-truth, fake news, alternative facts. Three terms that came to prominence in 2016 and 2017, yet the basis for these is not new. Documentary Right Between Your Ears, a collaboration of filmmaker Sheila Marshall and neuroscientist Kris De Meyer, is a unique exploration of the science behind these trends, the science of how people become entrenched in their views and how we deal with being wrong, with having our convictions challenged.

The need to feel right (not wrong) in our convictions can have great consequences. It affects the choices we make in our personal lives, and our interactions with people who hold different views to ourselves. It inspires both our best and our worst actions. It lies at the heart of the growing polarization in society around important issues such as climate change, immigration, or how we should organise our economy.

Told through the experience of a group of people as they become convinced of a date for the end of the world, and then have to deal with the consequences of it not happening, Right Between Your Ears brings the science to live through a human-interest story, with characters that viewers identify with and whose experience makes them self-reflect on their own position. "What is it that I believe in the same way as the people on the screen?", is a sentiment we hear often expressed by viewers.

The film is our way to help defuse the rising polarization by going in search of what we share with those who disagree with us on matters close to our heart.