By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Coral Gables Art Cinema will present a first-run screening of The Man Who Saves the World? on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m., bringing to local audiences a new documentary that follows the life and global travels of spiritual seeker Patrick McCollum. The screening will be followed by a live virtual conversation with McCollum, moderated by Matthew Anderson of Mosaic Miami, offering viewers a rare opportunity to engage directly with the subject of a film that examines questions of belief, identity, and humanity’s future.
The film, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Gabe Polsky, unfolds as both portrait and investigation, examining the life of a man who claims a singular role in humanity’s spiritual future. As Polsky becomes increasingly drawn into McCollum’s orbit, the documentary expands beyond biography into something more layered: a meditation on belief, identity, and the enduring human search for purpose.
A documentary that moves between the absurd and the profound
At the center of the film is McCollum, a figure whose life defies easy categorization. Described as a spiritual journeyman, he has spent decades traveling the world, engaging with religious traditions, indigenous leaders, and seekers of all kinds. His personal narrative includes claims of prophetic significance and encounters that span continents and cultures.
Rather than simply presenting McCollum’s assertions at face value, Polsky constructs the film as a journey of discovery, allowing the audience to experience his own evolving perception of his subject. What begins with curiosity gradually deepens into something more complex, as the director confronts questions about faith, skepticism, and the nature of truth itself.
Along the way, the film introduces figures whose own lives have intersected with global questions of spirituality and environmental stewardship, including primatologist Jane Goodall and indigenous leader Chief Phil Lane Jr. Their presence expands the documentary’s scope, situating McCollum’s story within broader conversations about humanity’s relationship to the planet and its future.
Gabe Polsky’s continuing exploration of unconventional lives
Polsky has built a reputation for documentaries that explore unconventional figures and the boundaries between myth and reality. His previous work has examined subjects ranging from Cold War hockey to technological visionaries, often focusing on individuals whose stories challenge conventional narratives.
In The Man Who Saves the World?, Polsky turns his attention to the terrain of spirituality, an area where certainty and doubt coexist in tension. The film’s title itself signals that ambiguity, framing McCollum’s claims as both a question and an invitation.
Executive production by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly, along with Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jody Hill, reflects the film’s unusual blend of seriousness and unpredictability. Known for their work in both comedy and drama, the producers bring a sensibility attuned to the complexities of human character and the interplay between sincerity and irony.
The result is a documentary that resists simple categorization. At times humorous, at times contemplative, the film allows viewers to navigate their own responses to its central figure.
Coral Gables Art Cinema’s role as a cultural forum
The screening reflects Coral Gables Art Cinema’s ongoing commitment to presenting films that extend beyond commercial entertainment into cultural and intellectual engagement. Since its founding, the theater has served as a venue for independent, international, and documentary cinema, offering audiences access to works that explore complex themes and diverse perspectives.
Special screenings followed by filmmaker discussions or live conversations have become a hallmark of the cinema’s programming. By connecting audiences directly with creators and subjects, these events transform filmgoing into a participatory cultural experience.
The virtual appearance by McCollum following Sunday’s screening will allow viewers to engage directly with the film’s central figure, offering insight into the experiences and ideas that shaped his story.
A film that invites reflection rather than resolution
Running 87 minutes, The Man Who Saves the World? unfolds at a deliberate pace, allowing its narrative to develop through encounters, conversations, and moments of uncertainty. Rather than offering definitive answers, the film encourages viewers to consider the nature of belief and the forces that shape individual identity.
The documentary arrives at a moment when questions about meaning, purpose, and collective future occupy an increasingly visible place in public life. As technological change accelerates and global challenges intensify, stories that explore spiritual and philosophical themes resonate with renewed urgency.
By presenting McCollum’s journey without imposing a single interpretive frame, Polsky allows audiences to engage with the film on their own terms. The result is less an argument than an exploration—one that acknowledges the enduring human impulse to search for significance in a complex and uncertain world.
Sunday’s screening offers local audiences the opportunity to encounter that exploration firsthand. In doing so, it reinforces the cinema’s role as a space where storytelling becomes a catalyst for reflection and conversation.
The Man Who Saves the World? will screen Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. at Coral Gables Art Cinema. Tickets are available through the theater’s box office and website.
