Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus, 2013.
Written and Directed by Sebastián Silva.
Starring Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffman, Juan Andrés Silva, Agustín Silva, José Miguel Silva and Sebastián Silva.
SYNOPSIS:
As Jamie travels in Chile, he invites an eccentric woman to join his group’s quest to score a fabled hallucinogen, a move that finds him at odds with his new companion, until they drink the magic brew on a beach at the edge of the desert.
Michael Cera’s career is developing in a fascinating manner. Having made his name in Judd Apatow comedies, he seems to have chosen a different career path, a path filled with chauvinism, drugs and a strange sense of realism and impressively he has pulled it off. Once you move past the terrible name, Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus is a film that relies wholly on how far the viewer chooses to go with it. The plot stays static but the actors move as the world changes around them, defined by the hallucinogenic powers of the “magic cactus.”
What is most impressive is the believability of the situation. Chilean director Sebastian Silva chooses subtlety over the ludicrous in a manner almost parallel yet poles apart from Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Fuelled by drugs, he balances moments of absolute high with moments of almost pure clarity. The characters are all believable and most impressively, Cera takes the role on the chin. In a year in which he was portrayed as deceitful and grotesque; This Is the End, Crystal Fairy seems to signal a sudden change in career oath for the one time awkward comedy star.
Any memories of those surrounding the two leads are all but gone, simply passengers resting on the backs of Hoffman and Cera. To describe the characters as likeable would be false. They feel less like real people, more like figments of a messy high. Maybe this is what the film set out to achieve, a series of characters constantly “off” yet it is almost impossible to discuss the development of the characters. Only Gaby Hoffman develops, and this is only as a result of her taking off her clothes and manipulating those around her.
The mumblecore movement heavily influence Crystal Fairy, dialogue purely natural and each scene with almost no external influence. In a year in which Drinking Buddies and Short Term 12 stood tall among the hustle and bustle of the Hollywood mainstream, Crystal Fairy looks set to carry on this movement to a whole new audience. Without Cera, the film would feel forced but his presence and his immense likability, even through his gross chauvinism, lifts the film expenentially.
Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus isn’t an easy watch. It’s a film that depends less on its plot but more on its single star and how the audience would react to the final product. Whether it will succeed on its limited release is yet to be discovered but it is most certainly a cult film in the making.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Thomas Harris
Originally published January 18, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
