Aapo’s mom is specially licensed to handle trippy toads. Her only legal customer is Yaretzi, the region’s official Mayan shaman. However, Luz wants to buy some for the “Empire of Love,” claiming their Shaman, Zake, was trained by Yaretzi. His mom is skeptical, but Aapo is convinced by Luz’s wad of cash and her feminine charms, which she consciously works to her fullest.
However, when he arrives at the commune, even the horny teenager can tell something is off. Obviously, it starts with Zake. He speaks Afrikaans, as part of the film’s clumsy commentary on colonialism, but he looks and acts like a combination Charles Manson and Col. Kurtz.
Indeed, the combination of drugs, dysfunctional sexual energy, and bizarre ecological ideology feels extremely 1970s, which is reinforced by Carlos Gerardo Garcia’s deliberately grainy, throwback cinematography. Honestly, watching Aapo stumbling into the heart of darkness serves as quite an effective advertisement for living a square 9-to-5 consumerist lifestyle. Enjoy that TV dinner. It’s much healthier than toad extract.
Ironically, Wetiko might struggle to find an audience, because its portrayal of a green paradise turning into violent personality cult might hit a little too close to home for nostalgic hippies and Gen Z’ers raised on extremist tiktok algorithms. Still, the general level of insanity (literally and metaphorically) as well as the retro vibes should entertain fans of eccentric cult cinema. Recommended for adventurous viewers, Wetiko releases tomorrow (6/9) on VOD.
