Total Film
The semi-improvised plot is thinner than Cera's man-boy face-fluff, but Silva's curio works best as a free-wheeling character piece, splicing oddball comedy with discreet depths.
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Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus
Michael Cera stars in this Sundance-winning road trip as an American 20-something traversing Chile who meets a far-out, free-spirited woman named Crystal Fairy at a wild party. Out of drunken impulse, he invites her to join him and his friends in experiencing a hallucinogen of shamanistic legend – the San Pedro cactus.
“What is meant to be a devil-may-care journey becomes a battle of wills as Jamie (Cera) finds himself locking horns with his new traveling companion. But on a remote, pristine beach at the edge of the desert, the magic brew is finally imbibed, and the true adventure begins. Preconceived notions and judgments fall away, and the ragtag group breaks through to an authentic moment of truth.” (Sundance)
Sundance 2013 Directing Award (Sebastián Silva) World Cinema - Dramatic
2013Rating: R18Chile
AdventureComedy
- Director:
- Sebastián Silva ('Magic Magic')
- Writer:
- Sebastián Silva
- Cast:
- Michael CeraGaby HoffmannAgustín SilvaJosé Miguel SilvaJuan Andrés Silva
Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus / Reviews
The Guardian
It pootles around in vaguely trippy fashion, relying on loose improvisation as the characters variously get on each other's nerves (and ours) before reaching a collective one-ness with the universe. Or something.
Full reviewThe Guardian
Crystal Fairy is an acid trip where the frequent bonhomie is doused by sobering introspection.
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The Dissolve
Even with shaggy, semi-improvised projects like Crystal Fairy, there's a need for some kind of conclusion, and Silva devises one that's simultaneously terribly contrived and by far the most powerful scene in the movie.
Full review
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