Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Once the world's most famous astrologer, Walter Mercado seeks to resurrect a forgotten legacy. Raised in the sugar cane fields of Puerto Rico, Walter grew up to become a gender non-conforming, cape-wearing psychic whose televised horoscopes reached 120 million viewers a day for decades before he mysteriously disappeared.
Walter Mercado is a genuinely singular subject — flamboyant, gender-defying, spiritually earnest, and culturally massive yet largely forgotten outside Latino communities — giving this documentary exceptional Novelty. The filmmakers embrace his theatricality with warmth and style, and the archival footage is rich and colorful. The narrative arc (rise, mysterious disappearance due to a legal dispute with his manager, and attempted resurrection) is compelling but somewhat conventionally structured for a biography doc. Acting is N/A in the traditional sense; Mercado himself is a natural screen presence but supporting interview subjects are unremarkable. The ending, showing his final years and the outpouring of love before his 2019 death, is emotionally resonant but not surprising.