Wetiko - Director Kerry Mondragon

Director Kerry Mondragon takes us deep in the dense jungles of the Yucatan, where the air hums and the ground seems alive. A film that is destined for Midnight Movie acclaim, WETIKO follows Aapo, a young Mayan man trying to survive the modern hustle without losing his roots. When he takes a quick-cash job for his family-owned pet store delivering hallucinogenic bufo toads to a remote jungle ceremony, it feels like an easy score. One trip in, one trip out. What begins as a promise of transcendence inside a shady eco-village quickly reveals itself as something far more dangerous. Led by Zake Zezo (Neil Sandilands), a smooth-talking, bloodthirsty shaman who feeds on belief, fear and control, the ceremony peddles enlightenment to Western spiritual tourists and new age seekers. But as the powerful drugs kick in, reality fractures -- time bends, the jungle pulses, and Aapo is trapped in a hallucinatory war zone. As paranoia spikes and alliances collapse, Aapo realizes WETIKO isn’t a myth but a sickness -- greed, consumption, and spiritual rot spreading fast. Hunted, high and unraveling, he must choose whether to become another casualty -- or break the cycle before the jungle swallows him whole.

About the filmmaker - Kerry Mondragon is a writer, director, and producer known for Tyger Tyger (2020) and Meet Me at a Funeral (2015). Mondragon was born and raised in the ancient haunts of the Sonoran barrios and borderlands of the Mexican desert, a landscape populated by wild poets, peyote roadmen, and saintly Mexican grandmothers. He wrote poetry at an early age and corresponded with Allen Ginsberg at age ten, until Allen's death. After his biological father left, he was raised by his mother and step-father (turned-father,) they relocated to Marin County, California where he was blasted by the culture shock of a very different world. He discovered the dark shadow side of the wealthy county - a youth scene of bullying, trauma, drugs, alcohol – and was disgusted by the spiritual pretense of their culture. Bullied out of middle school and unable to adjust to high school, he lived the life of the youth underworld of one of the nation’s wealthiest towns. Throughout, he honed his artistic skills, he dropped out of college, worked at an ad agency and used that money to jump onto a crowd-funded Spike Lee feature film where he assisted the legendary director in prep and principal photography. This served as his film school. Upon returning to California and after significant life experiences, he resolved to make something pure, honest, and true - something stripped of all Hollywood illusions that was recognizable to those still lost in the pain of addiction - something to give hope to the hopeless.