The Algorithm

The Algorithm is a feature documentary about how recommendation engines — the systems behind Netflix suggestions, Spotify Discover Weekly, TikTok's For You page, and Amazon's "customers also bought" — have fundamentally altered what humans choose to watch, listen to, buy, and believe. The film opens with a simple question: when was the last time you chose something without a recommendation? Not "picked from a list of suggestions" — actually chose, from nothing, with no algorithmic input. Most people can't remember. We interview engineers who built these systems, starting with the Netflix Prize in 2006 — the million-dollar competition that kickstarted...