There is not a single scene without him, and in many scenes he is alone and has only gestures to emote with. But is he crafting bombs, Unabomber-style? Perhaps this is a wilderness meth lab? The title is a clear allusion to the Anarchist Cookbook, but what does that mean? And what awful incident caused his leg injury? The sparse cast allows Hickson a showcase, demonstrating that he is not just devastatingly handsome, but a superb thespian to boot. We are dropped in to the middle of 'Alchemist', and the early scenes leave us with some questions – who is this man and what is he up to? We quickly pick up on his independent, punk rock mentality. Perhaps Potrykus is following a similar rise to fame as Linklater: Allegedly, this is the first time Potrykus has not used an HDSLR or Super 8 camera to shoot his film, and the film quality is noticeably improved from earlier work. In my review for 'Buzzard', I noted a connection to Richard Linklater's early work (particularly 'Slacker'). His last feature, 'Buzzard', really struck a nerve with me, and I feel a sense of pride that an upper Midwest filmmaker is making a go of it. When I saw that Joel Potrykus was the film's writer-director, I was immediately on board.

Suffering from delusions of fortune, a young hermit (Ty Hickson, GIMME THE LOOT) hides out in the forest hoping to crack an ancient mystery, but pays a price for his mania.

The alchemist cookbook wiki