Cast & crew

Two Altars and a Cave

2013
18m

YOUR RATING

Helena, an old soul and shaman in this oddball film, concocts an elaborate ritual to celebrate her friend Mattie's 50th birthday. In a cluttered house in Queens, New York, the women honor the past and look to the future with humor and invention. But things don't go as expected. Helena seems to have fully left the house behind. Abandoned, Mattie confronts her fears of aging and eventually embraces HelenaÂ’s positive and peaceful appreciation of the natural world and its orders.

Play trailer1:02

Helena (Lois Smith), an old soul and shaman of this oddball film, concocts an elaborate ritual with her younger friend Mattie (Beth Dzuricky), to pass Mattie's 50th birthday. Mattie needs to... Read allHelena (Lois Smith), an old soul and shaman of this oddball film, concocts an elaborate ritual with her younger friend Mattie (Beth Dzuricky), to pass Mattie's 50th birthday. Mattie needs to face down her past and Helena, having already wrestled with the demons of growing old, kn... Read allHelena (Lois Smith), an old soul and shaman of this oddball film, concocts an elaborate ritual with her younger friend Mattie (Beth Dzuricky), to pass Mattie's 50th birthday. Mattie needs to face down her past and Helena, having already wrestled with the demons of growing old, knows precisely how to help her do it.