The Serpent and the Rainbow

The film begins in 1978 with Christophe’s death and a funeral marked by a haunting wake of the corpse. Seven years later, the action moves into the mid-1980s, a period of Haitian unrest under the Duvalier regime. The timeline juxtaposes laboratory experiments in Boston and fieldwork in Haiti with escalating danger and ritual power abroad.

The story shifts between rural Haiti during a revolutionary era, a clinical setting in Boston, and the Amazon rainforest where fieldwork unfolds. Haiti is depicted as a place of powerful rituals and political intimidation by the Tonton Macoute. Boston anchors the scientific chase for a zombie drug funded by a pharmaceutical company. The Amazon sequences introduce shamanic visions that blur the line between science and the supernatural.

🔬 Science vs Superstition

A central tension pits Western science against local voodoo practices. Dennis Alan’s research drives the investigation into the zombie drug, yet his visions and the Bokor’s power reveal limits to empirical understanding. The film asks whether knowledge can conquer belief or if belief shapes what science can uncover. The struggle raises questions about ethics, exploitation, and the costs of pursuing discovery.

⚖️ Power & Corruption

Political violence and corporate ambition intersect as the pharmaceutical project funds dangerous experiments in Haiti and recruits scientists from abroad. Peytraud wields fear and ritual power to manipulate people and bend events to his will. The pursuit of control drives deception, torture, and sacrifices, culminating in a battle for autonomy and moral authority.

🌍 Colonial Legacies

The film frames a collision between Western medicine and Haitian spiritual traditions during a regime backed by foreign interests. The zombie drug plot mirrors how external powers have extracted value from Haiti while ignoring local humanity. The ending suggests a reclaiming of agency by the Haitian people as they resist domination.