El Topo

Alejandro Jodorowsky writes and directs El Topo, a Mexican western released in 1970. The story follows a gunfighter in black who rides through the desert with his young son. As part of the boy's passage toward manhood, the child buries the tokens of his childhood. Father and son then cross a landscape marked by violence, where the gunfighter takes on a series of warrior masters, each encounter testing him further. A woman he claims as his own becomes the reason he seeks out these opponents, and the journey turns into something beyond a simple contest of skill. Jodorowsky himself plays the title role, with his son Brontis Jodorowsky as the boy. Mara Lorenzio, David Silva, Paula Romo and Jacqueline Luis appear alongside them, among a credited cast of 52.

The film was Jodorowsky's first feature as director, preceding The Holy Mountain in 1973 and Santa Sangre in 1989. It blends western conventions with surreal and religious imagery, and its mix of genres gave it a following beyond the usual western audience.

On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.2 from more than 30,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.1 from 699 votes. The critics' rating stands at 7.1 from 46 reviews, close to both audience scores, which suggests broad agreement on the film's merits rather than a sharp division between reviewers and viewers.