The Holy Mountain
A Christlike wanderer joins an occult pilgrimage of symbolic elites whose quest for immortality becomes a flamboyant assault on worldly power and spiritual complacency.
Overview
A surreal journey through the bizarre and grotesque, exploring the quest for enlightenment and immortality.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Graphic
- surreal
- grotesque
- provocative
- midnight viewing
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a visually extraordinary and uncompromising avant-garde masterpiece whose symbolism and excess are both its defining strengths and its central challenge.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film presents densely composed, colorful, grotesque tableaux whose imagery carries religious, political, and psychological meanings.
Seven wealthy and powerful figures represent planets while embodying systems of worldly power and corruption.
Christlike imagery, ritual, blasphemy, and the pursuit of gods and immortality structure the film's spiritual journey.
The Thief, the Alchemist, and seven symbolic elites form a group seeking the Holy Mountain and transcendence.
Films like The Holy Mountain, and why
The Color of Pomegranates
surreal religious symbolism, grotesque imagery, and provocative metaphysical questing
Eraserhead
dream logic, occult imagery, baroque visual design, and spiritual transformation
Holy Motors
psychedelic symbolism, ritualized tableaux, and confrontational avant-garde fantasy
Movie Details
- Director
- Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Release Date
- 1973-11-29
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (1070)
Cast
- Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Horacio Salinas
- Zamira Saunders
- Juan Ferrara
- Adriana Page
- Burt Kleiner
- Valerie Jodorowsky
- Nicky Nichols
- Richard Rutowski
- Luis Lomelí
Where to watch in United States
- Buy
- Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Holy Mountain about?
- A Christlike wanderer joins an occult pilgrimage of symbolic elites whose quest for immortality becomes a flamboyant assault on worldly power and spiritual complacency.
- What is The Holy Mountain like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Holy Mountain as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is The Holy Mountain violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Holy Mountain as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Holy Mountain?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a visually extraordinary and uncompromising avant-garde masterpiece whose symbolism and excess are both its defining strengths and its central challenge.
- Which films are like The Holy Mountain?
- Films with a similar feel include The Color of Pomegranates, Eraserhead, and Holy Motors.
- How long is The Holy Mountain?
- The Holy Mountain runs 115 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Holy Mountain?
- In United States, The Holy Mountain is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store.
