I enjoyed Doctor Strange (2016).

It takes us on a journey about the ‘spirit’.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a witty, overly confident, self-assured neurosurgeon at the peak of his powers.

Strange is excellent at what he does. In one sequence, another surgeon has finished surgery. Strange observes that the surgeon’s work is incomplete. Strange completes the surgeon’s work. Strange is congratulated by the patient’s family for saving their loved one’s life.

With brilliance comes arrogance. It’s mentioned by Strange’s co-worker and former lover Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) how he humiliated the surgeon he took over from. The other surgeon looked inadequate and incompetent as Strange made a mockery of him.

Fall and the remedy

With arrogance comes a fall. On his way to a speaking engagement, where he is the speaker, he tries to control driving his sports car, while handling CDs and a phone. He has an accident.

Strange winds up scarred with severe nerve damage and a permanent disability.

Rejecting Western medicine, which is not helping, he goes to Nepal. This is on the advice of Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt), a man who found a cure in Nepal. In Kathmandu there’s this place…

Strange is skeptical about the spiritual realm as he has believed the material world is all there is. In his need, he goes to Kathmandu. He learns otherwise that the ‘spirit’ or spiritual realm is real and may help him cope with his disability.

And he finds there is more to the spiritual realm than only a remedy. There is a hidden world of darkness and light affecting the physical world (the movie relies heavily on fantastic visual effects).

The magical elements in the film are a device for a broader theme. Doctor Strange reminds us that there is more to the physical world. There is the spiritual world, too. The spiritual world is just as significant, if not more important, than the physical world.

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Stephen Strange), Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Mordo), Benedict Wong (Wong), Mads Mikkelsen (Kaecillius), Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One), Benjamin Bratt (Jonathan Pangborn)

Scott Derrickson (Writer/ director; also director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us From Evil, and also writer of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Devil’s Knot, Deliver Us From Evil, Sinister 2)

Warnings—violence, magical fantasy, action violence