In this psychedelic debut by the music phenomenon Omar Rodriguez Lopez (best known for The Mars Volta), he himself plays the lead. Barlam (in his 20s) is obsessed by the divorce of his parents, has an incestuous relationship with his drug-addicted sister and finally succumbs to a psychosis.
In certain musical circles, the impressively Afro-coifed Omar Rodriguez Lopez, above all known from the prog-rock band The Mars Volta, is a phenomenon. He is known to be enormously productive (35 records in 15 years), original and versatile. For his debut film The Sentimental Engine Slayer, he is responsible for the screenplay, production design, production and of course also the music. In addition, he also plays the lead as the pretty confused Barlam. This twenty-something is obsessed by the divorce of his parents, has an incestuous relationship with his drug-addicted sister and becomes embroiled in a world of whores and addicts. As he falls prey to psychosis, reality and fantasy become so close together that the viewer too can barely tell them apart.
This psychedelic trip is set in El Paso, Texas, the home town of the Puerto Rican all-rounder, who thinks that American films (also independent ones) do not reflect multicultural reality enough. His own film is deliberately bilingual.