- A disillusioned TV-commercial director is guided by his friend through an LSD trip, during which he evaluates his identity and his relationships with women.
- Paul Groves (Peter Fonda), a television-commercial director, is in the midst of a personality crisis. His wife Sally (Susan Strasberg) has left him for another man and he seeks help from his friend John (Bruce Dern), a self-styled guru and an advocate of LSD. Paul asks John to guide him through his first "trip," and John takes Paul to a "freak-out: at his friend Max's (Dennis Hopper) pad. Splitting the scene, they score some acid from Max and return to John's split-level pad with an indoor/outdoor pool. Paul experiences visions of sex, death, strobe lights, flowers, dancing girls, witches, hooded riders, a torture chamber, and a dwarf. Most prominent among his hallucinations, however, are two women. He can't let go of his memories--good and bad--of Sally, but he has only just met Glenn (Salli Sachse), an acquaintance of Max's with whom he feels an immediate connection, as she admires those who dare to try LSD and wishes to see him again soon. He panics, but John tells him to "go with it, man." Would you trust John?—alfiehitchie
- An idyllic Californian seafront. A man in a tuxedo (Michael Nader) and a woman in a shimmering silver dress (Judy Lang) are locked in a passionate kiss. The woman coyly turns to us and declares "Anything Is Possible... when you use April In Paris perfume".
This is revealed to be part of a TV commercial being directed by Paul Groves (Peter Fonda), whose personal life bares little resemblance to the fantasy he has been crafting: as his crew prepares for the next setup, Paul is visited by his soon-to-be-ex-wife Sally (Susan Strasberg), who chastises him for failing to notify her of his commitment to the shoot, as she has been waiting for him to sign divorce papers with their lawyer. Although they are still affectionate to each other, it is implied that Paul's workaholism has contributed to their break-up.
After the shoot, Paul and his friend John (Bruce Dern) travel to the communal mansion of another acquaintance, Max (Dennis Hopper), a self-styled guru who is hosting a marijuana-fueled "freakout". As John and Max make preparations, Paul strikes up a conversation with one of the guests, Glenn (Salli Sachse). He reveals that he intends to embark on a "trip" by taking LSD to gain personal insight. A mutual attraction between the pair quickly blossoms - Glenn finds people who try acid "groovy" - and they express a desire to see each other again. Paul and John go to the latter's house, where he lays out his procedure: Paul will take a single pill of acid (250 micrograms), that he is to "turn off his mind, relax, and then float downstream", and that he must have absolute faith and confidence in John, who promises to not leave him unattended. If Paul's trip turns bad, he will have the option of taking a pill of Thorazine, which will end the trip immediately. The drug - which Paul takes with a glass of apple juice - takes effect earlier than anticipated: his mind unexpectedly flashes back to his encounter with Glenn.
On John's advice, Paul begins the trip proper by lying down and wearing an eye mask. In his mind's eye, he witnesses a parade of colors, accented by the beating of his heart, before imagining himself climbing a cliff amid the beaches of Big Sur, where he and Glenn watch as a pair of black-hooded figures ride on horseback. Returning to reality, Paul describes to John the flow of energy that he feels from everything surrounding him; he is especially fascinated by an orange, which to him radiates like the Sun. In his mind, Paul and Glenn are joined by Sally; he has sex with both women (alternately... or perhaps they have merged into one?) as they are bathed in a kaleidoscopic array of clashing, darkened colors. Paul tells John that he loves "her" (a possible reference to Sally, Glenn, or both, or even women in general), but that he fears that he will suffer if he does not know what love truly means. He then states that if one opens themself to sex and love, the process is easy.
Paul and John take a walk outside (where Paul compares some nearby TV antenna towers to "crosses on the mount"). In his trip, Paul encounters Glenn, a dwarf (Angelo Rossitto) peddling a witch's brew, and the hooded riders, who chase him into a cave leading to the mansion of Roderick Usher (as seen in House of Usher (1960)). At the same time as he traverses through the house, he runs across a field of sand dunes. In a secluded room of the mansion, he finds himself hanging from a noose; meanwhile, the Paul running through the dunes collapses in a Christ-like pose. Paul then undergoes a multitude of funeral processions - some more violent than others - and Sally mourns his passing. In reality, Paul (now swimming in John's pool) fears that he is about to die, and begs for the Thorazine; John pulls him out of the pool and towels him off. He calms Paul down and assures him that his fear of dying is "all in [his] mind", and advises him to "just go along with it" if he dies within the trip again. As John briefly leaves him alone to get him his clothes, Paul stares into a mirror and watches as an array of light and shadow sprout out of his and Sally's mouths; he tells John that he can see into his brain, and that he agrees with what he said about it being all in his mind.
Returning to his hallucinations, Paul is led by the hooded riders to Sally and Glenn, where he walks with them through a forest and (in the nude) through a field of flowers. However, the scene suddenly turns to a vision (or perhaps a memory?) of Sally having sex with another man (Michael Blodgett). The scene transforms unexpectedly again: within a fun-house-like setting, Paul is strapped to a chair beside a carousel being ridden by another dwarf (Roger Arroyo), while Max is dressed like a judge and behaves as such. Paul's disjointed conversation with Max eventually turns to his profession as a commercial director, and the inherent inauthenticity of commercials themselves. Paul insists that it is a way of making a living, and that he is "not guilty". Max then turns to the topic of Sally: he makes Paul admit that he failed her as a lover, resulting in her having an affair. As they ride on the carousel together, Max encourages Paul to admit to his guilt, telling him that the pain he feels due to the fallout with Sally is a natural part of being one with the universe, but that he should not wallow in his suffering.
Outside the house, night has fallen. Paul picks up a shell on John's desk and drops it into the pool, claiming that he has "saved" the universe. His hallucinations become more intense and erratic; he feels that he is dying again, but John encourages him to touch his hand, and reaffirms that he is his friend. John leaves the room briefly to get some more apple juice for Paul; alone, Paul checks out a nearby closet, but feels claustrophobic inside it. Upon coming out, he sees what appears to be John, slumped over dead with a bloody gash on his head. This prompts Paul to flee the house... just as the real John returns with the juice.
Running through the neighborhood, Paul sees the glare of a car's headlights as a group of assailants beating him with shovels. Finding himself in a suburban home, he turns on the living room TV to coverage of the ongoing Vietnam War. He then encounters one of the home's occupants, a little girl named Alexandra (Caren Bernsen), who he helps get a glass of milk. Alexandra's awakening father (Tom Signorelli) mistakes Paul for an intruder, prompting him to again take flight.
Paul finds himself on Sunset Strip, where he is dazzled by the blinding neon lights and marquees. He then goes to a laundromat, where a lonely and sarcastic woman, Flo (Barboura Morris), is eating fried chicken. At first amused by Paul's strange mannerisms and the attention he gives her, Flo becomes enraged when he pulls her laundry out of a dryer (as he believes Sally to be trapped inside), and rushes to call the police. Paul seeks refuge in Bead Game, a go-go club run by John's friend Cash (Dick Miller). Recognizing that Paul is stoned, a waitress (Luana Anders) ominously warns him that people sometimes unintentionally kill themselves while tripping out. Enraptured by the sights and sounds of the club - particularly a duo of painted topless dancers (Frankie Smith and Susan Walters) and a band playing an improvisational rock tune - Paul's attention is broken when he notices Glenn. As he mills through the crowd to reach her, he spots two police officers, and flees from them through the back entrance as Glenn leaves the club.
As his mind is bombarded with images of a massive love-in, Paul rushes to Max's mansion. Max assures Paul that John is alive, and that he has been looking for him. Paul confides to Max that he is afraid; Max's girlfriend, Lulu (Katherine Walsh), confirms Paul's feelings while sharing a brief, intimate moment with him. Describing the events that have transpired since John's "death" (and, in Max's words, separating "the facts from the trip"), Paul believes that the police are after him as a result of his encounters with Alexandra and Flo. Concerned that Paul might unintentionally lead the police to the mansion and bust him for the large quantities of drugs in his possession, Max advises Paul to go to a restaurant on the Strip, where John will pick him up. At the restaurant, Paul finds Glenn, who is elated to see him again. Paul tells her of his concerns about being caught by the police, but Glenn tells him that she "[doesn't] believe in police". Paul, feeling the effects of the LSD wearing off, fears that he is about to "lose something" (Sally); Glenn advises him to let his feelings go. She drives Paul to her beach-side house, during which he flashes back to earlier moments of his trip and the day (especially his meeting with Sally), and imagines himself being chased by the hooded riders onto Big Sur. Paul spends the final moments of his trip passionately making love with Glenn. The hallucinations and flashbacks intensify until Paul is corned by the riders, who finally unmask themselves to reveal Glenn and Sally.
His trip finally over, Paul lets Glenn sleep as he walks onto her porch, and watches as the sun rises over the beach. Unexpectedly, his life now bares something of a resemblance to the fanciful April In Paris commercial he had been making the day before. We then hear a conversation he has with Glenn once she awakens: she asks Paul if he found the insight he was looking for; he tells her that he thinks he loves her, "and everybody else". Her tone turning more ambiguous, she tells him, "It's easy now. Wait 'till tomorrow"; in response, Paul says "Yeah, well... I'll think about that tomorrow".
[The original theatrical prints end with Paul's image shattering like glass, as if to imply that his trip has permanently fractured his state of mind. In the Director's Cut, there is no such effect, leaving the audience to decide for themselves how Paul's trip has impacted him, and what he will do with his renewed capacity for love.]
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