Altered States (1980)

William Hurt eats some extra special magic mushrooms and drops himself into a sensory deprivation tank, and then shit gets real. Packed with religious symbolism and a lot of psychedelic imagery, Altered States will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever put their brain outside the box and wondered about abstract things… you know what I mean. It doesn't succeed in recreating such an experience visually, but emotionally and metaphorically it does quite well. It remains surprisingly on track given the director’s history. Apparently Kubrick turned it down (and Spielberg, but that's probably a good thing).
I was shocked to find it was William Hurt's cinematic début; it’s one of the finest performances I've seen from him. A genuine sci-fi classic.

4½ orders of I'll have what he's having out of 5