El Topo + The Holy Mountain

This Jodorowsky double expands the limits of cinema and your consciousness!

EL TOPO (1970) | R

A black-clad gunslinger and mystic wanderer journeys through a surreal desert landscape, confronting a series of spiritual and moral trials as he seeks enlightenment and redemption. Blending Western tropes with esoteric symbolism, El Topo is a psychedelic allegory of violence, ego, and transformation. A favourite of John Lennon and Yoko Ono (who went on to partially fund Jodorowsky's follow up, The Holy Mountain), this legendary cult film was credited with starting the Midnight Movie phenomenon and firmly established Alejandro Jodorowsky as the master of the outrageous and the profound.

15 min intermission

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973) | R

ollowing his meteoric rise in the wake of El Topo, Jodorowsky was given a budget of $1 million dollars (equivalent to $4 million today) and total artistic freedom for his follow up project. A nameless thief (played by the director) ascends from filth and illusion into a cosmic quest guided by a powerful alchemist. Along with a band of grotesque industrialists and societal archetypes, he travels to a sacred mountain in search of immortality. A kaleidoscopic, visually stunning satire of religion, capitalism, and the self.