Gambling, Gods and LSD

An experimental journey through belief, addiction and altered states

Gambling, Gods and LSD is a three hour experimental documentary by Peter Mettler that unfolds as a personal travel diary and philosophical inquiry. Filmed between 1997 and 1999 in Canada, the United States, Switzerland and India, the documentary moves through a series of loosely connected episodes that explore how individuals confront uncertainty, desire, faith and mortality.

Beginning in Toronto, the film observes evangelical worship, personal confessions and moments of spiritual fervour. In the United States, the journey shifts between the vast landscapes of Monument Valley and the artificial intensity of Las Vegas, where gambling, spectacle and technological simulations of pleasure reflect modern forms of escapism. In Switzerland, Mettler meets Albert Hofmann, the scientist who discovered LSD, and films scenes of addiction, nightlife and scientific reflection that question individuality and control. The final section in India follows religious rituals, pilgrimages and collective practices that frame transcendence as a shared social experience.

Shot without a script and largely alone by the director, the film embraces imperfection, intuition and association. Rather than offering conclusions, Gambling, Gods and LSD asks how cinema can show what cannot be seen, encouraging the viewer to participate in the creation of meaning. The film was widely screened internationally and won the Genie Award for Best Documentary, standing as a landmark work of essay cinema that blurs the boundaries between documentary, philosophy and sensory experience.