A Brilliant Conflict

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Blistering performances.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Imagine watching the trip scene in "easy rider" for 30 minutes. This is one strange, daring film, at times hard to watch. Caveh's journey into psychedelic experience holds nothing back. He's very brave, or very foolish, I can't decide. Was the film done as an experiment? His motivation doesn't seem to be crass publicity ("hey watch me trip dude!"), but more of an attempt to capture an exotic personal experience in front of the lens.