Baphomet Mountain

This bizarre and single-minded drama looks at the relationship between a religious zealot and a country singer on a road trip mission to oppose a mysterious cult.

By parts dreamy and dreary, “Baphomet Mountain” is a real head-scratcher of a film.

Written and directed by Austin Burnette Mitchell and Jeremy Reyes, it’s the story of two men on a strange road trip. They start and end in the desert, swing into Vegas and Los Angeles, and never really seem to get anywhere despite all that traveling.

Reyes and Mitchell are also the stars, playing Jesus Boy and Country Boy. (No, they never actually call each other this, simply eschewing names.) Country Boy is sitting on the side of the road strumming a mournful tune about his daddy leaving his momma. Then Jesus Boy pulls up in a van and offers him a ride, and an interrogation.

It seems Jesus Boy is out to rescue his kid brother, who was kidnapped by a devil-worshipping cult. Specifically, they are aligned with Baphomet, a half-man-half-goat figure worshipped in medieval times by the Knights Templar, though Jesus Boy sees him as just another iteration of Lucifer.

This movie is mostly talking, and when I say talking I mean it doesn’t feel so much like dialogue between two characters as pronouncements and preaching. Jesus Boy asks Country Boy a lot about his beliefs, and they come to an understanding that their missions are aligned. Though there will be strife and squabbles along the way.

Country Boy is a more mysterious figure who seems to be living the life of a country music song, embracing loneliness and regret. He professes to believe in God and Jesus but is not a disciple. At times he talks about himself being capable of being convinced to worship other figures, possibly even Baphomet himself. His faith is more like a musical chord than a bedrock, able to bend its pitch as circumstances demand.

There are various creepy encounters along the way. Jesus Boy seems to keep running into possessed figures who spew a lot of jibberish, as if talking in tongues. They also fart a lot. He tries to help them, but also berates them for walking away from God. At one point a man he has befriended ties a noose around his neck, a pretty good sign his preaching is not particularly effective.

In all honesty, I’m not sure what this movie is going for. My instinct is that it must be some sort of parody, but the filmmaker/star duo play the material straight with all earnestness. At one point they invade a community prayer circle, still on the hunt for the enigmatic cult, possibly thinking they’ve found it.

Perhaps the idea is Jesus Boy is actually the progenitor of the cult he claims to be seeking. Certainly he has apocalyptic tendencies, dressed in a buttoned-up white shirt and carrying the good book around like a cudgel rather than an instrument of love and healing.

Watching “Baphomet Mountain” is a strange, strange experience. Maybe some will find value and meaning in its stilted speeches and bizarre encounters; I found no faith there.