Absurdist genre-bending sci-fi thriller Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) is an eclectic fever dream of kitsch afro-futurism, pop culture references and questionable Kung Fu movies wrapped up in a 1960s spy thriller with all of its trappings, including a sordid love affair and blurred allegiances.
Directed by Miguel Llanso, the film follows the diminutive D.T. Gagano (Daniel Tadesse), a CIA agent on his last case as he prepares to realise his dreams of opening up a pizzeria and kickboxing gym with his wife Malin (Gerda-Annette Allikass).
The pair’s dream is threatened, however, when Gagano and fellow CIA agent Palmer Eldritch (Augustin Mateo) take part in an experiment using virtual reality to enter the CIA’s computer network - their avatars’ movements an unnerving stop motion, complete with Robert Redford and Richard Pryor masks - to stop a Soviet Union computer virus dressed as Stalin. However, the agents soon learn that battling the virus comes with real world consequences as Gagano is rendered comatose, trapping him forever in a warped virtual reality version of Ethiopia known as Beta Ethiopia.
Jesus Shows You soon delves into the world of conspiracy theories and layered realities involving the CIA, Cold War paranoia, mind experiments, fly aliens bleeding chocolates, Jesus Christ, a world leader dressed as Batman and a drag queen lieutenant in a parachute.
With bad dubbing, acting which deviates between flat and overzealous and changing aspect ratios, the low-budget indie film is an acid trip from start to finish. While Jesus Shows You is not for everyone due to its oddball plot and somewhat bland characters, those with more eccentric tastes will be in for a good time.
Rated R16 - Violence, sex scenes, offensive language and drug use.
Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway is now streaming on NZIFF at Home - Online.
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