A fanciful morality tale that journeys into the depths of the human mind as well as ponders the influence of higher powers of both light and darkness on the human soul, at first glance, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus feels as if it might be the musings of one of yesteryear's most confusing philosophers lost in time and suddenly dropped into the 21st Century. Also known to most of the movie-going public as the film which holds the final performance of the late Heath Ledger, so too is it almost an icon of the time in which it has arrived. Bring those two together and what you get is a film that presents a modern world which barely has time to look beyond the next five minutes with an unabashed reflection on eternity and spirituality that can't help but make you pause and wonder about at least one or two of its musings.

Crafted by director Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a film which explores such themes as eternity, the stories that define it, and the choices we make which may very well influence our place within it. While it is set in modern times, the film's main characters are the players of an out-of-date carnival sideshow helmed by the immortal Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) who has been tied to a devil's bargain for centuries. While the film ostensibly takes place in London, the true landscape of most of its scenes is actually the imagination, a realm into which Dr. Parnassus is able to transport both audience members and almost every member of his carnival crew when they pass through the Imaginarium's magic mirror.

But, as Dr. Parnassus tells us soon after the film's opening, what they are doing is not just fun and games, "it's deathly serious." More than just fantasies within which those who enter Dr. Parnassus' mirror are able to inhabit their wildest dreams, in each journey into their own imaginations each person is faced with a choice between light and dark. On top of a mountain or up a narrow path is Dr. Parnassus. Behind the gaudy neon-lights of a bar, a hotel with an hourly rate, or the like is Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), a.k.a. the devil. But perhaps the most chilling element of the world on the other side of Parnassus' mirror—that the paths created by almost everyone's imagination, while at first seemingly beautiful, magical, and free, lead not to Dr. Parnassus, but straight to Mr. Nick.

We watch as a middle-aged woman is brought right to Nick's doorstep by a colorful trail of shoes, clothes, and the lure of none other than People Magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year (Johnny Depp). Perhaps the most telling journey to the devil's doorstep, however, is that of the newest member of Parnassus' team, Tony (Heath Ledger/Johnny Depp/Jude Law/Colin Farrell). The picture he paints of himself for Dr. Parnassus and his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole): a man who just wants to help them make a little money and be free of the devil's grasp. The dream he was pursuing before Dr. Parnassus and his gang found him hanging from a bridge: that of building a charity to help children. But as we step into Tony's own imagination and his actual dreams come to life, what they reveal is a future much more about Tony's own success and image than the well-being of anyone else, and ultimately a straight path to nothing other than death and darkness.

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