The Source is a film documentary directed Jodi Wille and  Maria Demopoulos. The film interviews members of The Source family, a religious and spirtual group that developed out of the early seventies from a restaurant called The Source and takes the viewer on a journey into the happenings and mindsets of the people who joined the cult.

The movie is very well organized and dives deep into the guru father of the cult Jim Baker, a former judo champ, America’s strongest boy winner, and veteran of world war II. This man killed many people in his life with judo chops. JUDO CHOPS! Having become a financial success with his restaurant businesses, his experimentation with psychedelic drugs eventually led to his removal from the bistros he had created.This turn of events led him to create The Source, an all natural all organic eatery for anyone who wanted to eat healthy, which eventually became a huge hit and landed many visits from A list people such as John Lennon and Woody Allen.

People flock to this restaurant to work and follow the teachings of Jim Baker who was beginning to develop his own religion which was a combination of western and eastern teachings, drugs, sex and rock and roll. Sound pretty legit no? The movie’s pace is somewhat slow but what can you expect, it’s a documentary.

The presentation of Jim Baker and the development of The Source is very thorough thanks to interviews with the former members. They give a behind the scenes look into the group mentality mindset and spiritual awakenings they all recited, Border line crazy stuff. This movie is definitely one to catch if your in the mood to learn about one of the more well known cult movements in southern California but make sure you bring some popcorn to munch on.