Shrooms’ starting point is a scientific study in which the psilocybin of magic mushrooms is used for the therapeutic treatment of depression. Using the premise of this study, Shrooms follows Dan, a young Venezuelan man currently living in Lisbon, who collects magic mushrooms in the forest and distributes them in the city to those in need of help – like a New Age Robin Hood – using pigeons as carriers.
When you get to know a work and its author’s distinctive mark, it’s hard not to create the highest expectations. Jorge Jácome, with his formal elegance, this time takes us down the path of the modern dreamlike tale through magic mushrooms and a glowing boy. The effulgence of the mushroom effect is transmuted into a story that needs to excavate the essence of what is magical in order to find what is real. This is the film’s game, its ability to leave us without a floor when situations seem absurdly believable. And herein lies the strength of Jácome’s cinema, touching, tender, dense and exploratory. Shrooms is yet another confirmation of his skill as an author, always anchored by the enormous Marta Simões, his director of photography. – Miguel Valverde
