My Psychedelic Love Story

Name: My Psychedelic Love Story
Genre: Documentary
Released: November 29, 2020
Rating: 69

2020

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Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Showtime Networks | Release Date: November 29, 2020 | Not Rated

Summary: Errol Morris’ latest documentary takes us on an Alice in Wonderland adventure deep inside a largely forgotten episode of the early ’70s. Told through the lens of Swiss-born, Paris-raised free spirit Joanna Harcourt-Smith, Timothy Leary’s lover, the film examines the twists and turns that led Leary, the High Priest of LSD, to seemingly sellErrol Morris’ latest documentary takes us on an Alice in Wonderland adventure deep inside a largely forgotten episode of the early ’70s. Told through the lens of Swiss-born, Paris-raised free spirit Joanna Harcourt-Smith, Timothy Leary’s lover, the film examines the twists and turns that led Leary, the High Priest of LSD, to seemingly sell out the millions he urged to “turn on, tune in and drop out” and become a narc in 1974. At the heart of the story is the woman Leary described as his “perfect love.” Was she a government pawn, a Mata Hari, or simply a beautiful, young, intelligent woman on the trip of a lifetime? Through a series of candid interviews, Morris and Harcourt-Smith reexamine this chaotic period, resulting in a singular snapshot of the early 1970s’ cultural landscape-and its profound impact on the trajectory of one woman’s life. (Showtime)… Expand

Director: Errol Morris

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

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Critic Reviews

Glenn Kenny

Nov 27, 2020

[A] heady, fascinating movie. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Oct 28, 2020

It’s a welcome return to form for a filmmaker whose form is all about the slippery search for truth. Read full review

Alonso Duralde

Nov 11, 2020

There’s not a lot in My Psychedelic Love Story that’s necessarily going to grab viewers who aren’t already interested in the era and in the notable figures in LSD history. But as a spotlight for a woman who knows how to spin a yarn – and as an inducement to pick up a copy of her memoir – this new documentary definitely finds its groove. Read full review

The Film Stage David Katz

Mar 16, 2021

Harcourt-Smith’s story is ultimately tragic, but still triumphant. She retains nothing but integrity, whilst her associates were on a path to extinguish all of theirs. Read full review

John Anderson

Nov 27, 2020

Mr. Morris is among the most intellectual of documentary makers, but on an artisanal level his trademark is the head-on confrontation, the face-to-face interview. In refining that process, he developed the Interrotron, which enables him to interview a subject eye-to-eye while still having that subject look directly into the camera. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Oct 26, 2020

Morris utilizes psychedelic neon colors, bold titles, and a hallucinatory score to emphasize the craziness of her life. He has devilish fun piecing together Joanna’s fractured past. It just feels like, in his search for Truth, he’s lost his way a little this time. Read full review

Chuck Bowen

Nov 25, 2020

In Morris’s best films, such as The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography, there’s a sense that the director is truly simpatico with his subjects. In My Psychedelic Love Story, though, Morris lets a fading never-quite-legend blather her way into a trap. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Dec 30, 2020

To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, "What a long strange trip it was" (emphasis on the word "long"). Director Errol Morris's protracted Showtime TV documentary about Joanna Harcourt-Smith, LSD guru Timothy Leary's so-called "perfect woman," tells the story of their time together at the heightTo paraphrase the Grateful Dead, "What a long strange trip it was" (emphasis on the word "long"). Director Errol Morris's protracted Showtime TV documentary about Joanna Harcourt-Smith, LSD guru Timothy Leary's so-called "perfect woman," tells the story of their time together at the height of the psychedelic era, including their globe-trotting days on the run from authorities to evade capture for drug law violations. While some of Harcourt-Smith's stories are indeed entertaining and colorful, many of them ramble on endlessly, leaving viewers wondering if they have a point -- or a conclusion. Meanwhile, others are so outlandish that they stretch credibility and come across more like tall tales, a possibility that's not entirely improbable given Harcourt-Smith's own admission to having been a chronic liar in her youth. Ultimately, though, much of this film just isn't particularly interesting, a collection of essentially insignificant anecdotes that don't shed any revelatory light on the principals, the era in which they lived or their legacies. It seems like this material could have provided rich fodder for an engaging picture, but it instead presents little more than a name-dropping counterculture tell-all, the kind of story swapping to come out of a conclave of aging hippies.… Expand

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