Crystal Fairy: A Review by Ross Smirnoff

In the opening scene of Sebastian Silva's brilliantly directed film Crystal Fairy, Michael Cera plays Jaime, an American traveler who is snorting coke lines in a house somewhere in Chili.  It's there that he meets a fellow young traveler Crystal Fairy, played by Gaby Hoffman where they end up dancing together discovering that they are both American.  In the bathroom, as Jaime slowly realizes embarrassingly that he can't flush the toilet, a poster of Bosch's masterpiece 'The Garden of Earthly Delights,' on the wall catches Jaime's stoned out eyes as they gaze at the picture with cloudy recognition of dancing birds and human bodies in a orgiastic feast of the senses.  The Americans along with three Chilean friends go on a quest to discover a magical cactus that will either open up their minds to the highest stages of consciousness,  or plummet them into the depths of psychological despair.  They travel to a town to discover the plant, which grows naturally on the natives home property, although is heavily guarded as a sacred right of passage.  There, the crew meets a nice old woman who invites them in, while Jaime cuts off a piece of the cactus with a knife and quickly rushes his friends outside to the car where they drive off to the beach.  At the beach, Jaime begins to cook down the plant while Crystal Fairy opens up the minds of her road companions with her free spirit semantics and constant search for a clear and personal narrative of finding peace in the moment.  In one scene she gives all the "trippers" a crystal that will help open up their minds to personal discovery and positivity.  Jaime becomes annoyed by Crystal Fairy's antics and is constantly disparaging her throughout the film.  When they finally get to the beach and take the drugs, Jaime becomes upset with himself for treating her with such disrespect that he finds her and apologizes.  Their disagreement and reconciliation is not love but friendship and admiration that sets the relationship free and allows Jaime to open up and apologize and confess his appreciation for his new companion.   The road ahead is the path yet discovered.