The Last Shaman

Ultimately, the film is what Freeman aspires to be: Not a big person making his mark on the world, but a small part of something very big.

The film is a fascinating and sometimes terrifying introduction to ayahuasca. Surreal sequences mimicking the hallucinogenic experiences during the ceremonies are unnecessary and pale in comparison to the real transformation we witness.

On occasion, director Degan attempts to capture the plant's power via psychedelic montage, layering colors over jungle footage and Freeman's home movies, but more fascinating are the details of the rituals, the river-trek photography, Freeman's frankness about his struggles with depression, and Degan's quick portraits of the people Freeman meets along his way — none of whom gets enough screen time.

Degan's first film, the effort often suffers from hazy storytelling, but its real difficulty for many viewers will be its protagonist, who isn't the most sympathetic proxy for Americans curious about the plant extract's suitability to treat depression.

How The Last Shaman came to be isn’t discussed in the film, but this documentary might be less disquieting if it had been.

Degan ably imitates drug trip experiences with the visuals and editing. But he also captures a rich boy detoxing from therapeutic drugs and a corrosive-to-some culture for many months.

At once superficial and overblown, this documentary also often feels downright phony.