Begotten (film)

Begotten is a 1989 American experimental horror film written and directed by E. Elias Merhige. It stars the largely unknown actors Brian Salzburg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry and members of Merhige's theatre company Theatreofmaterial. Its unconventional narrative depicts the suicide of a godlike figure and the births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth, who undertake a journey across a dying world. Merhige directed two short film sequels: 2006's Din of Celestial Birds and 2022's Polia & Blastema: A Cosmic Opera.

Merhige conceived Begotten as a dance piece for experimental theatre. It has a gritty visual style, intended to evoke film stock degraded through time and wear. Inspired by documentary footage of the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima, he decided on a feature film. As with the Hiroshima footage, Begotten is silent.

Begotten is infused with mystic and religious themes. Critics have debated whether it reflects popular attitudes towards the origins of life and religion at the time of its production and portrays creation through the mythic and religious traditions. Some writers have interpreted the film as an examination of the cycle of life and mankind's relationship with nature. Other themes include the Nietzschean view of order and chaos, societal norms and the perception of reality.

After completion, Merhige spent two years trying to find a distributor. It debuted at the Montreal World Film Festival and later screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival, with the film critics Tom Luddy and Peter Scarlet in attendance. The two brought it to the attention of the critic Susan Sontag, whose praise was instrumental to its eventual release. It received few reviews, which were mainly polarized.