Movies About Mushrooms
1. Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Director Louie Schwartzberg takes audiences on a journey exploring fungi and their potential to heal, sustain, and contribute to regenerating life on Earth. Featuring stunning time-lapse photography and insights from leading mycologists, this film is rated 100% Critics Score on Rotten Tomatoes.
2. Shrooms (2007)
This is an Irish horror film about a group of American college students who travel to Ireland to try some magic mushrooms. While in the woods tripping out, they become entangled in a supernatural nightmare. Shrooms holds a 25% critics score and 42% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
3. Mushroom Hunters (2017)
Mushroom Hunters is a film about foragers who search for rare and valuable mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest. This is a film showing an underground culture that exists among mushroom hunters and an industry of outsized challenges. It has been rated 7.2/10 on IMDB.
4. Know Your Mushrooms (2008)
This quirky documentary by Ron Mann pursues the world of mushrooms and the obsessive people who love them. It features interviews with mushroom enthusiasts, chefs, and experts, as well as a psychedelic soundtrack by The Flaming Lips. Know Your Mushrooms has a 7.0/10 rating on IMDB.
5. Midsommar (2019)
Not all about mushrooms, but this folk horror contains the classic scene where hallucinogenic mushrooms are taken. Told through the eyes of a set of American friends, they travel deep into Sweden, finding themselves right in the middle of a midsummer festival full of pagan cults. Midsommar stands at 83% Critics’ Score and 63% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes.
TV Shows About Mushrooms
1. The Last of Us (2023)
The HBO post-apocalyptic adaptation is from a video game with the same name, where most of the world gets infected with some sort of fungal infection that turns them into zombie-like creatures. Pressing hard on ideas about survival and the extent people go through to protect loved ones, The Last of Us holds a 96% critic score with a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
2. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia (2016)
This Vice-hosted series, hosted by Hamilton Morris, traces the history of the science and the cultural influence of various psychoactive drugs, from mushrooms and cactus. In one episode, Morris travels to Mexico in search of traditional psilocybin mushrooms. Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia is rated 8.7/10-IMDb.
3. Mushroom Road (2022)
Mushroom Road is a Chinese drama dealing with the world of truffle hunting and competitiveness in the business. A story about a young lady returning to her hometown to begin her truffle business while fighting both against the challenges of the industry and her personal life. The rating on MyDramaList is 7.4/10.
Conclusion
Mushrooms have indeed served as quite the inspiration for filmmakers and television producers. From various documentaries on the science and culture surrounding fungi to fiction works in which mushrooms have been used as plot devices, these films and shows represent one aspect of the continuing interest humans have in the mysterious world of mushrooms. Whether you are into mycology or enjoy the more creative and intellectual approach to storytelling, these movies and television series will definitely capture your attention and keep you entertained.