For any past or present Deadhead, filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev’s four-hour psychedelic rock odyssey of a film is already required viewing. For the uninitiated, however, it’s the gateway drug for what will surely become a love for one of the most influential bands in music history, the Grateful Dead. Structured much like the band’s legendary shows, the film’s first half charts the expected territory of key moments in the Dead’s storied career, while the second half wanders into the surprising consequences of their celebrity, the meandering emotional life that sealed the fate of the music and musicians who revelled in the moment. Rare archival footage of gigs, revealing interviews with key figures and never-before-seen live performances weave into a meticulously crafted epic. But it’s the interview with Jerry Garcia—the band’s head and heart—punctuating the entire film that reflects and reignites the magic that inspired a musical phenomenon. Myrocia Watamaniuk