Pueblo

Comparable titles – Get Out, Zoe Kravitz’s Blink Twice

Wallace – the main character is a Black, LGBTQ, Dominican-Cuban-American nihilist suffering with PTSD at the loss of his grandmother and previously the loss of both his parents to police abuse. He works as a paralegal unmotivated to take the Bar test and complete his career as a result of his disillusionment with the justice system in America. His therapist “fires” him in order to push him to find his own solution to his being “stuck”.

Logline - Three Americans seeking an Ayahuasca cleanse and some fun in the Mexican Riviera unexpectedly become trapped by an ancient trickster spirit in a psychedelic time warp and are forced to face their personal demons or become trapped in the Mayan Underworld for all eternity.

His best friend Jahari is a comical Persian-American character yet overly materialistic, money and power-seeking in the middle of a pending divorce from his wife who he still loves. He works on Wall Street at a big investment firm. He tries to make amends by going to a Vipassana retreat where you take a vow of silence and meditate for 8 hours each day for 10 days. He ends up sneaking out of the retreat and plans a fun trip to the Mexican riviera where he convinces Wallace and Odys to do an Ayahuasca ceremony with a shaman.

Odys – is a beautiful, Black, Mexican-American trans-woman that just turned down a marriage proposal and broke up with her dream fiance’ as a result of a severe imposter syndrome. She works as a very successful owner of her own business styling Hollywood celebrities for public events. She dresses impeccably and makes a statement of her exquisite style with every wardrobe change.

The motley crew meet in Tulum, Mexico in need of a vacation from their difficult realities. Jahari leads the others into seeking an Ayahuasca cleanse from a shaman in a small village (pueblo) recommended to him by a local.

After a comedic, surreal car ride through the jungle, they find themselves lost in a time warp inside the village unable to escape and are chased into the nearby Mayan ruins of an once powerful city-state named Ek Balam. They enter a monster mouth portal, narrowly escaping capture by the local bad guys. They find themselves stuck inside a vast network of underground caverns and are soon drugged by a trickster spirit using a variety of psychedelic plants and honey ritually used by the Mayans.

Inside the caverns they encounter the massive World Tree or Xibalba. The place where both worlds meet. The tree is inhabited by an array of Mayan creator Gods of nature and is a focal point throughout the story as they are tested throughout the caverns in their quest to escape. Scenes of equal parts comedy and horror ensue testing their mettle as they learn to conquer their individual demons. The trio individually learn that we are all “stronger together” and that is also the key to conquering the trickster.

There are also two fantastical, psychedelic musical scenes with Pharrell, Nikki Minaj and Sia (which can easily be replaced with other musicians, if need be). A small army of skeletons emerge from a magnificent stone carved altar, coming alive to surround the trio dancing wildly to the music.

There is a visually stunning climactic scene where Wallace finds enlightenment via a serpent in the World Tree and his Kundalini spirit is activated and his third eye opened. The World Tree arises in the final cavern space, limbs spreading and fillng the space. Mayan Gods appear to watch the final test. Wallace and Odys defeat the trickster spirit by summoning a fierce Mayan warrior queen, Lady Six Sky (based on a real historic character) using a black mirror, who quickly dispatches the trickster spirit to another dimension.

The shapeshifting trickster appears to be malevolent taunting them throughout their journey but ultimately you find he is trying to heal them through spiritual transformation which pays homage to ancient Mayan creation stories where heroes are tested in the underworld only to emerge as godlike.

In the end, Wallace completes his law degree and wins a battle in court to set his mother free, Odys begs forgiveness to her fiance' and he accepts, Jahari also begs sincere forgiveness to his wife and daughter and they are reunited.

The trickster spirit reappears as a doctor in a white coat on his porch in the village (pueblo) wearing a sinister smirk, awaiting the next batch of American tourists seeking enlightenment.