COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - THE SACRED SPIRIT (ARROW BLU RAY)
I’ve never seen the show ANCIENT ALIENS, but I’m quite familiar with the meme(s) it has spawned. UFOs and aliens were both interesting and terrifying to me as a kid. I, like so many others have, wanted to believe in there being sentient life in other parts of the galaxy and grew up watching X-FILES fuel my wild imagination of extraterrestrial possibilities. Like so many things in life, it was a passing phase of interest that I haven't since revisited. To me, it was never nefarious as much as it was naive the interest in UFOs and aliens and I never knew of the conspiratorial side of things that are alluded to in shows like the one mentioned above. I do see daily reminders of conspiratorial thinking happening in our daily lives, with qanon, organized religion, and internet communities pumping paranoia into the mainstream on a seemingly regular basis. No matter what side of the discussion you fall on, both sides believe the same thing; people are lying to you about something for someone else's gain. We have seen situations like PIZZAGATE occur where conspiracy theories embolden armed citizens to take their false sense of justice into their own hands, and an entire riot on the US Capitol occurred largely due to the false belief in a stolen election. Needless to say, we are constantly seeing the repercussions of people adhering to fringe ideas that are usually void of truth or logic, and today in the crypt we cover a Spanish film that weaves a tale seemingly outrageous and believable all at the same time. THE SACRED SPIRIT, a 2021 release now getting a LIMITED EDITION BLU RAY release from ARROW VIDEO, has been called by its director a “domestic science fiction” film and we are here to see if this domestic sci-fi flick deserves a home in your collection!
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A missing girl. A community in shock. Jose Manuel lives a quiet life. He works in his modest tapas bar, takes care of his elderly mother, and attends weekly meetings of the Ovni-Levante, a group of devoted UFO enthusiasts who gather after hours at the office of a local estate agent to exchange information about extraterrestrial messages and alien abductions. When their leader dies unexpectedly, only Jose is left to know the cosmic secret that could alter the future of humanity. And only Jose knows what he must do.
HOW IS IT?
The best way to describe THE SACRED SPIRIT is like this; imagine you’ve just been told a joke that you don’t get until someone explains it to you. As cryptic as that sounds, it isn’t as cryptic as the coded symbolism in this strangely alluring story that is as odd as it is dark. It’s a movie that didn’t immediately make a lot of sense to me, but I found an appreciation after taking in observations made in the special features. I guess your enjoyment of this kind of film totally depends on how much time you’re willing to give it outside of the 97 minutes it takes up on-screen.
It isn’t easy to talk a lot about THE SACRED SPIRIT because so much of the film rides on the ending reveal. What we are treated to is a film that dabbles in the absurdity of normality and the ulterior motives inherent to deeply engulfing conspiracy theories. What stands out most about the film is that writer/director CHEMA GARCIA IBARRA uses non-actors and shoots on 16mm film. It gives THE SACRED SPIRIT a real regional SOV film vibe, and that is made even more apparent in the setting of Elche, which is also IBARRA’s hometown. In the same way, HAROMNY KORINE documents parts of the rural south, IBARRA films Elche as if it were a place similar to reality adjacent. The other thing you will notice about THE SACRED SPIRIT is that it is very methodical and intentional. The story unfolds at the pace of sap sliding down the bark of the tree, and yet, it isn’t entirely boring to watch. The strangeness and perhaps lack of formal acting credentials of our characters makes them so interesting to watch that you forget so little is actually happening. It's something that I saw as a fault while watching but came around to appreciating after understanding the film's broader story and intentions. What we think is the story of a lonely man’s search for meaning and higher purpose is actually something much more sinister, but also extremely subtle.
Anything you’re likely to read about THE SACRED SPIRIT no doubt will make mention of the ending because the entire film lives and dies on the last few minutes of exposition. It’s a shocking ending, and it’s one that makes you really question a lot of what you just saw even though the film has slowly been showing its hand the entire time. In a way, that’s what makes or breaks the movie in the end. How willing the viewer is to take the time to unpack the very intentional choices made during a repeat viewing to see that nothing was hidden at all. It’s a hard line to walk because it can feel like you’re cheating your audience for the majority of the runtime in the hopes that the twist satisfies the craving. This is not an explicit film, with almost no violence happening on-screen, even if the revealed subject matter being discussed is nothing short of appalling. This might sound enticing, but it should be made clear to viewers that the gratification and wit of THE SACRED SPIRIT beckon for additional viewings to appreciate it in full. That can be a big ask considering the film itself has a glacial pace, and it certainly will reward some viewers more than others.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
Considering IBARRA filmed THE SACRED SPIRIT on 16mm, it isn’t surprising that the print looks like it was filmed on 16mm. There is a documentary-like charm to the aesthetic that makes it feel as if it takes place in the world of today, but also in the past. This is likely due to the landscape of Elche being rural and non-metropolitan. The transfer looks as good as one would expect considering the above. ARROW seems to have been pretty hands-off with this since it is a newer release and therefore restoration is irrelevant. THE SACRED SPIRIT is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and you can see screenshots from the disc throughout this review and below:
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
THE SACRED SPIRIT comes with both a stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD track. It seems as if the 5.1 audio was created for this release, but I’m not sure if that is the case or not. What’s interesting is that the film makes very little use of the 5.1 audio considering how largely quiet and meditative THE SACRED SPIRIT is. All this accounted for, you can only really hear the advantage of the 5.1 while the synth score and/or music sequences come around. These sound just fine, but overall they are few and far between.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
THE SACRED SPIRIT is a film that begs discussion, and ARROW VIDEO has once again delivered what feels like film school-level discussion on this release. As I mentioned in the review above, this is a movie that doesn’t entirely click with the viewer during the first watch because of how intentionally and subtly layered the hints are throughout. While some prefer their movies to not require additional reading if you’re even somewhat curious about the meaning in THE SACRED SPIRIT once the ending credits roll, then you’ll love the special features included with this release.
Two of the video essays included BEYOND THE EYE OF HORUS and PYRAMID SCHEME unpack the themes buried within THE SACRED SPIRIT from two completely different directions. The first is an examination of the role that conspiracy and surveillance play in the film, and the connection between Egyptian Mythology and the figurative and literal use of eyes. This essay explores these themes, but also makes a very poignant remark about the purpose of the essay as a means to “enhance the enjoyment of the film through understanding”. This is important for viewers who, like me, didn’t entirely see the connections IBARRA was making by the time the film ended. The second video essay, PYRAMID SCHEME, speaks to the topics of conspiracy, class, and capitalism. While I found the capitalist argument to be the loosest in terms of relevance, the overall message around how conspiracy theories prey on those in lower classes searching for higher meaning really rang true when considering the pervasiveness and prominence of conspiracy theory in our modern political and social landscape. In some ways, this posits that THE SACRED SPIRIT is as much a cautionary tale about the exploitation of purpose as it is a story about good intentions and negative impacts.
I finally capped things off with an interview on the disc titled DOMESTIC SCIENCE FICTION, which sees writer/director CHEMA GARCIA IBARRA being interviewed about this film, the process of filmmaking, how his writing is impacted by his desire to use non-actors, and overall how his other films connect around similar ideas. It bears mentioning that as part of the Limited Edition release, there is a supplemental disc with CHEMA GARCIA IBARRA’s short films. I have not watched any of these yet, but I suspect I will come back to them at another time. A full list of special features is below:
Disc 1 Feature & Extras
Beyond the Eye of Horus, a visual essay about the use of surveillance and Egyptology in The Sacred Spirit by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Pyramid Scheme, a visual essay examining conspiracy, class, and capitalism in The Sacred Spirit by Josh Nelson
Domestic Science Fiction, an interview with writer-director Chema Garcia Ibarra
Behind the Scenes, four short featurettes shot during production
Elche Vision, a series of six location reports about the making of the film, hosted by actress Lorena Iglesias in character as Esther Armengol, presenter of The Sacred Spirit’s fictional local TV show
Promotional videos in which the characters of The Sacred Spirit talk about themselves
Uncut TV Clips, background television broadcasts shot especially for the film and presented here in full
Image gallery
Theatrical trailer
Disc 2 Domestic Sci-fi: The Short Films Of Chema Garcia Ibarra (Limited Edition Exclusive)
The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5 (2008) 7 mins, Sundance Film Festival Award Winner
Protoparticles (2013) 8 mins, Sundance Film Festival Award Winner
Mystery (2013) 12 mins, Berlin International Film Festival Award Winner
Uranes (2014) 59 mins
The Disco Shines (2016) 12 mins, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema Award Winner
The Golden Legend (2019) 11 mins, Ann Arbor Film Festival Award Winner
LAST RITES
THE SACRED SPIRIT is a film that isn’t for everyone. It is slow, methodical, and yet somehow intriguing and surprising along the way with an ending that is sure to rock your core regardless of how engaged you were throughout. The supplementary features for this disc are almost required viewing to fully grasp what THE SACRE SPIRIT is really trying to say, and for the thinking collectors out there this is surely a worthy addition to your macabre media collections!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy of THE SACRED SPIRIT for the crypt, and you can buy the Limited Edition using the following links:
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