Film Qualia, a self-described “obscure, overlooked films reviewer and video essayist”, takes a deep dive into the history of psychedelic images in film, noting how it was first sparingly used to recreate a highly visual drug experiences in lesser known films. With the advent of animation and then CGI, however, psychedelia was accepted into the general human psyche through large, blockbuster movies made such powerhouse filmmakers as Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan, David Lynch and the Marvel MCU.

…psychedelic imagery is expanding across the cinema screen more than ever thanks to CGI. Here, I explore what effect this is having, how filmmakers are taking advantage of it and what this means for the future of the medium.