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Ghost Elephants (2026)

Name: Ghost Elephants
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2026-02-27
Duration: 99 min
Rating: 7.7
Cast: Werner Herzog, Steve Boyes, Kerllen Costa, Qui, Qui-Dawid

Ghost Elephants (2026), directed by Werner Herzog, starring Werner Herzog and Steve Boyes.

02/27/2026 BR Documentary 1h 39m

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Quiz about this movie

An epic search for a mythical giant.

Synopsis

In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.

What the catalogue says about this film

Film 50 of 51 by Werner Herzog in the catalogue
Rated 7.7, against a Documentary average of 7.1

Every comparison is within the CineQuiz catalogue, not cinema as a whole.

Rafael LeyvaCinematography
Werner HerzogDirector, Producer, Screenplay, Writer
Marco CapalboEditing
Ariel Leon IsacovitchProducer

About the film

Ghost Elephants is a 2025 American documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. It follows Steve Boyes, a South African naturalist in search of what he believes to be an undiscovered species of African elephant on the highland plateau of Angola.

The film had its world premiere out of competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2025. It was theatrically released in the United States by National Geographic Documentary Films on February 27, 2026, followed by its streaming release on Disney+ and Hulu on March 7.

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Cast

Steve Boyes - Ornithologist, Explorer

Xui - San Bushman Master Tracker

Kobus - Master Tracker, Healer Apprentice

Xui Dawid - Master Tracker

Gary Trower - Anthropologist, San Culture Specialist

Kerllen Costa - Environmental Anthropologist

Jordana Meyer - Molecular Ecologist, Stanford University

Regedor Kaketche - King of the Nkangala

Elias Ngunga - Luchazi Tracker

António Luhoke - Luchazi Hunter

Melissa Hawkins - Curator of Mammals, Smithsonian Institution

Mary Faith Flores - Molecular Technician, Smithsonian Institution

Ellie Armstrong - Evolutionary Genomics, UC Riverside

Katherine Solari - Conservation Genomics, Stanford University

Release

Ghost Elephants was presented in Features at the Vienna International Film Festival on October 18, 2025. It screened in the Masters section of the Stockholm International Film Festival on November 6, 2025. The UK premiere was at the Leeds International Film Festival on November 14, 2025.

In August 2025, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the world streaming rights to the film and it will be globally available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu in 2026.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "A visually magnificent tribute to humanity's fascination with animals, Ghost Elephants is a haunting documentary that reaffirms how much any subject becomes all the more intriguing when beheld by Werner Herzog's gaze." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "Ghost Elephants is a portrait of obsession that, while gentler than some of Herzog's other works, is mesmerizing from the first moment to the last, yet another title of note in what remains one of the most incredible filmographies of our time."

References

External links

Ghost Elephants at IMDb

Text from Ghost Elephants on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Elephants

Trivia

It premiered on February 27, 2026, a Friday.
It runs 1h39 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Disney Plus.
This film's quiz has 11 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosSobey Road Entertainment, Skellig Rock, The Roots Production Service
CountriesUnited States, Namibia, Angola
LanguagesEnglish, Portuguese
StatusReleased

Where to watch

Disney Plus Streaming

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Cast

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Crew

Rafael Leyva Cinematography
Werner Herzog Director
Marco Capalbo Editing
Ariel Leon Isacovitch Producer
Werner Herzog Producer
Ernst Reijseger Original music
Werner Herzog Screenplay
Werner Herzog Writer

Questions about this film

What is Ghost Elephants about?

Ghost Elephants: In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.

Who directed Ghost Elephants?

Ghost Elephants was directed by Werner Herzog in 2026.

Who stars in Ghost Elephants?

The cast of Ghost Elephants includes Werner Herzog, Steve Boyes, Kerllen Costa, Qui and Qui-Dawid.

How long is Ghost Elephants?

Ghost Elephants runs for 99 minutes, or 1h39.

Where can I watch Ghost Elephants?

Ghost Elephants is available on Disney Plus. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.