Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway | This virtual reality mystery thriller is totally bonkers!

Are you ready for Miguel Llansó’s dystopian mashup of Afro-futurism, Cold War paranoia and 1960s/1970s exploitation cinema?

In 2035, the megalopolis of Tallinn is managed by a computer programme called Psychobook. Agents Palmer Eldritch (Agustín Mateo) and D.T. Gagano (Daniel Tadesse) are tasked with protecting it from any and all threats. But when a virus called ‘Soviet Union’ is detected, they set out to destroy it. On entering the system, however, the agents fall into a trap which leaves Gagano in a coma and stuck in the virtual world of Betta Ethiopia, where he is considered the true heir to the throne.

With the help of hologram Jiminy (Aris Rozentals), Gagano tackles the challenge of becoming the new Emperor, encountering kung-fu fighting monks, an Irish-accented Stalin, a coke-snorting Batman, and a Jesus Christ-like figure along the way. But as his kick-boxing girlfriend (Gerda-Annette Allikas) tends to him in the real world, Gagano struggles to discover just how to use a truth-seeking substance that will set him free…

Shot in Ethiopia, Latvia, Estonia and Spain, this bonkers, brain-boiling (crowd-funded) adventure is hugely inventive featuring a virtual reality world that looks like it’s been modelled on one of Eddie Romero’s Filipino horrors of the 1970s. Director Miguel Llansó’s underground James Bond meets The Matrix satire also pays homage to 1960s Euro-thrillers with its purposely out-of-synch dialogue, while the film’s computer technology is so 1990s (the Macintosh classic makes an appearance). Then there are those crazy characters wearing paper masks of famous Hollywood actors – including Robert Redford (I think – as it might also be James Franciscus or Peter Graves). But kudos go to Ethiopian actor Daniel Tadesse, who gives a stand-out performance in this, his fourth collaboration with Llansó. He so should have his own TV series….

Time to get in the pizza slices (there’s quite a few consumed) and switch on Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway which is available now on Arrow Video Channel (Apple TV and Amazon Prime)

Check out this mind-blowing 10-minute mega-loop trailer…