My Psychedelic Love Story

My Psychedelic Love Story is an engaging documentary directed by renowned filmmaker Errol Morris. Released in 2020 and featuring Timothy Leary and Joanna Harcourt-Smith, this captivating tale takes viewers on a fascinating journey of love, paranoia, and psychedelic discovery.

The film is an exploration of the adventurous and chaotic life of Timothy Leary, the famous psychologist and Harvard professor. Leary is best known for his experiments with LSD and his strong advocacy for the substance during the 1960s, a period famously known as the ‘Psychedelic era.' The story unfolds through the narrative focal point of Joanna Harcourt-Smith, Leary's once lover and confidante. Interestingly, the scenes and narratives are primarily derived from Harcourt-Smith's memoir, 'Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary: My Psychedelic Love Story,' giving the film a deeply personal and intimate feel.

This isn't just a documentary about Timothy Leary’s controversial experiments with psychedelics; it provides an in-depth look into Leary and Harcourt-Smith's turbulent five-year relationship that began in 1972. The backdrop of their romance is as compelling as it gets: evasion from law enforcement, globetrotting escapes, regular encounters with notable figures of the time, and significant socio-political events, including the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.

The narrative weaves an intricate web of psychedelic substances, CIA intrigues, countercultural movements, and interpersonal conflicts. The backdrop of the story is filled with multitudes of archival footage, animations, and showy re-enactments that provide an authentic feeling of living through the '60s and '70s – a period when the world was grappling with extreme cultural and societal shifts. It is a truly immersive experience, as the viewer is transported into the world of Leary and Harcourt-Smith, complete with the era's psychadelic undertones, palpable feelings of rebellion, and the thrill of living life on the edge.

Joanna Harcourt-Smith takes the center stage as she candidly recounts her connection with Leary, her experiences with high-profile figures of the time such as Andy Warhol and Keith Richards, and the subsequent fallout of their love story. The movie unravels Joanna's extraordinary character, her individual path from a privileged upbringing in Europe to becoming Leary’s defiant paramour, and her ultimate questionable role as perceived by many within the counterculture movement. At the core of it, there is Harcourt-Smith's earnest attempt to make sense of her own journey and to question the ambiguity of her motives during that era.

Timothy Leary’s portrayal in the documentary is complex, to say the least. We see him through Joanna's eyes, making it an intimate portrait, coloured by love, betrayal and a profound longing for acceptance. The film presents Leary as a man of great intellect who was at the same time, a magnetic personality ensnared by the grandeur of his radical ideas and the implications they had on society. The exploration of his character and the consequence of his work on his personal life leaves the audience wrestling with mixed feelings.

The film employs a confident and thrilling storytelling style, making it a compelling watch. Bouncing between Harcourt-Smith's earnest interviews, intricate renderings of LSD trips, historical footages interwoven smartly, and an engaging narrative, the film preserves an unsettling yet fascinating mood throughout. Director Errol Morris showcases his knack for weaving narratives that depict personal stories against great historical upheavals, adding a captivating socio-history layer to it.

My Psychedelic Love Story is an intriguing, profoundly personal exploration of charismatic personalities, fascinating historical times, and the enduring mystique surrounding psychedelic substances. It could be seen as an enduring effort to search for truth amidst the haze of high-profile controversies and fallouts, through perspective of a woman caught up in the whirlwind of love, rebellion and self-discovery. It proves to be a remarkable exploration of a tumultuous love story intertwined with historical tumult and the cultural shift in societal understanding of psychedelics and their implications. An ode to a mesmerizing era and its defining personalities, the movie excels as a passionate, reflective, and vivid storytelling masterpiece.