Film description

American Mystic is a poetic documentary about the spiritual search of religious and social outsiders. Against the background of America’s legendary religious pluralism and tolerance, little is known about the lives of radicals straying far from the mainstream of the leading faiths. Alex Mar’s film exposes the views and lives of three young people from the spiritual alternative. Chuck, a descendant of the Sioux, is raising his child in the beliefs of his forefathers, the priestess Morpheus is building a pagan sanctuary in California’s desert with her husband, while Kublai is the spiritual medium of a neo-Christian community in the provinces. Mar’s camera proves a discreet and non-judgmental companion. Without unnecessary contextualizing voiceover, but through clips of the actual lives, rituals, and interviews, we enter a usually inaccessible space to learn about these nonconformists’ relationship with the outside world.

Ewa Szabłowska