Mushrooms and fungi have long captured the imaginations of filmmakers. The notion of an altered psychological state creates filmic possibilities that can make fantasy a reality — or at the very least a hallucination of reality. Horror films, documentaries, and even dramas harness the psychological applications of magic mushrooms. Sometimes these movies are bad trips, but other times mushrooms create an enlightening and spiritual experience.
Beyond their psychedelic applications, fungus and mycelium networks have been proven to have the ability to communicate, adapt, and thrive throughout our planet's many environments. Mushrooms are actually closer to a type of animal than a plant — and humankind has had a parallel relationship with fungus dating back to the infancy of our species.
Whether it's mushroom monsters providing scares, mycologists giving lessons about fungal capabilities, or psychological dramas about bad trips and parasitic organisms, fungus has provided some pretty incredible fodder for movie-making. Here are the ten best films about mushrooms (psychedelic and otherwise).
9 Attack of the Mushroom People (1963)
Attack of the Mushroom People was a kitschy Japanese horror film from the early '60s. The film was directed by Ishirō Honda (already famous for directing Godzilla), who was one of the fathers of disaster movies and made everything from comedies to this delightfully silly horror film. Honda was a co-creator of the kaiju genre, but shrunk down the monsters for Matango (the Japanese title of this film), which found an international audience like only Honda could at the time.
What Was Memorable About This Often-Silly Horror Film
With today's eyes, Attack of the Mushroom People seems pretty outdated, but at the time of its release, Honda was championed for making a horror film with a much darker tone and design than the usual Japanese fare of that age. The sets and costumes were an early attempt at an idea that's essentially the same as the Max series The Last of Us, with decidedly different results, thanks to the slightly archaic period.
8 Shrooms (2007)
OK, Shrooms wasn't exactly the Citizen Kane of the fungal film pantheon. Still, few would dare to watch this scare-tastic fright fest after so much as a mushroom marinara over penne. What Shrooms lacks in story it makes up for in jump scares and haunting visuals. This film definitely does not advocate for bad trips, and may be enough to scare anyone away from experimentation.
Why We Love A Good Bad Trip
Shrooms came out in 2007, but it may as well have been 1978, as the film follows a very John Carpenter-esque psychological precept, and the campiness is maybe the movie's best asset. While the film didn't receive what you might call high praise, the subject matter is one that works well and could be utilized in horror more often.
7 Gaia (2021)
gaia
An injured forest ranger on a routine mission is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as the son and his renegade father reveal a cultish devotion to the forest.
- Release Date
- June 18, 2021
- Director
- Jaco Bouwer
- Cast
- Monique Rockman, Carel Nel, Alex van Dyk, Anthony Oseyemi
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 1hr 36min
Taking Shrooms' basic premise one step further, Gaia definitely goes up a notch or three. The South African film follows a forest journey by three young people who suddenly can't judge the forest's presented visions as reality or hallucination. Our heroine, Gabi, gets impaled by a trip-tipped booby trap, and we join her in the confusion, as reality blurs into dark fantasies when the hallucinatory effects set in.
Why the Movie Worked
What it lacks in story, Gaia makes up for in sheer fear, as the very notion of experiencing this kind of bad trip is enough to scare anyone into avoiding such scenarios. In the film, a rapidly growing fungus can inhabit passersby, which sends Gabi and Winston on a journey that's both enlightening — and terrifying.
6 In the Earth (2021)
In the Earth
As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run.
- Release Date
- April 16, 2021
- Director
- Ben Wheatley
- Cast
- Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith, Hayley Squires, Ellora Torchia, John Hollingworth, Mark Monero
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 1hr 47min
There's nothing like a good score to heighten the scares in a psychological horror film, and Clint Mansell does just that. Mansell also did the creepy scores for all of Darren Aronofsky's films, and here he provides a moody sonic backing to In the Earth, a hallucinogenic fright fest set in the woods. Directed by Ben Wheatley, a master of folk horror, this descent into woodsy horror is as psychedelic as it is earthy.
Mycology's Presence in the Film
The film centers around Martin Lowery (Joel Fry), a scientist in a post-apocalyptic England, who is sent to a government outpost to employ mycorrhiza to solve the country's blight. That entails the cooperation of fungus and plant systems, but instead, Martin gets sucked into a cult kidnapping that blurs the lines between reality and hallucination.
5 Annihilation (2018)
Annihilation
- Release Date
- February 22, 2018
- Director
- Alex Garland
- Cast
- Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Oscar Isaac, Gina Rodriguez, Sonoya Mizuno
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 115
Annihilation showed all the many ways a meteor impact zone known as the Shimmer could mutate the enveloped flora and fauna. That includes an albino alligator with rows of concentric teeth, a bear missing some skin, and a seriously gross disemboweled soldier who's been enveloped by a mysterious fungus.
The Aura of Fungus in the Film
For a science fiction piece like Annihilation, the mystery of mycelium networks and how they transfer energy added another layer to a movie that tapped the power of what Sigmund Freud called "the Uncanny." For many of the film's most climactic scenes, including the bear attacks, we go on a ride with Lena (Natalie Portman), as she tries to unlock whether this world is real — or a figment of her imagination.
4 The Hallow (2015)
The Hallow combines mythology, fungi, and horror into a dark package, as it follows a young family into the woods of Ireland. There, a conservationist named Adam (Joseph Mawle) discovers a potentially deadly form of fungus, as villagers impart the local folklore that includes fairies, banshees, and baby-stealers. Sure enough, these tales prove true, as Adam's son is eventually abducted by the fungus-borne creatures.
How the Hallow Ties Together Mythos and Mycology
Disbelief is more easily suspended in the hallow, as the mythology surrounding the film's wooded areas seems far more possible with a scientific explanation like a freakish fungus. Add to that some convincing creature FX, and the film ratchets up the horror by lending credence to lore.
3 Dosed (2020)
Dosed is a documentary about a woman who, after years of struggling through addiction to prescription medications, turns to underground healers for a gateway out of a collapsing life. Through the use of mushrooms and iboga, she slowly undertakes a spiritual quest for redemption, unlocking the source of the traumas that set her addiction in motion. Renowned addiction expert Dr. Gabor Maté becomes one of her many lifelines, guiding her towards an understanding of her stunted development as a child.
What the Film Teaches Us About Psychedelic Awakenings
Dosed is one of the first films to document a new trend in therapy, showing how psychedelics can be used to treat depression, and help people cycle out of their dependence on pharmaceuticals. While the film doesn't offer much in the way of conclusive evidence, it does show how these treatments may change our views of experimental techniques.
2 Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Mycologist Paul Stamets guides us through a scientifically-informed trip in Fantastic Fungi, a decidedly pro-mushroom propaganda piece that promises answers to life's biggest quandaries via the ingestion of fungus. Not only did Stamets inform us that we've been pronouncing "fungi" wrong, but he and a group of mycologists teach us about the long-standing relationship between humankind and fungus.
Secrets of the Stoned Ape Theory
Stamets and a cadre of anthropologists use the film to posit a theory, that early hominids (who often tracked their prey animals for long periods and likely ate fungi off their dung) have been eating magic mushrooms for millennia. The implications are big, as this relationship may explain our spiritual and mind-expanding relationship with the psychoactive fungi, as well as our evolution of self-awareness.
1 Dosed: The Trip of a Lifetime (2022)
As it turns out, magic mushrooms (aka psilocybin) is among the leading treatments for people dealing with terminal illness diagnoses. In Dosed: The Trip of a Lifetime, a devoted mother named Laurie Brooks is granted the legal right for medicinal use of magic mushrooms, due to an ominous diagnosis. She then embraces a journey of personal transformation and healing, exploring alternative treatments, while her psychedelic journey helps to assuage her existential crisis.
What is Most Lasting About This Educational Film
As this film progresses, Brooks discovers more about being at peace with her life span, though she initially sets out for a cure. This is a tearjerker, but reassuring in showing how these natural, psychoactive treatments can help us understand our place in the universe — sometimes during our darkest hours.
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