Mind Body Spirit

Found footage is a favourite choice for film-makers with miniscule budgets because the medium lends itself well to thrifty movie-making. You can get away with not showing the monster clearly; not worrying too much about mise en scène; not having flashy special effects. This is largely what makes found footage work: it's raw, unfiltered and, above all, it feels genuine.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a growing number of found footage films where the creators have opted for the genre to save money, without actually considering what makes an FF film work.

Mind Body Spirit is one if these films. Ostensibly a collection of recordings from a wannabe YouTube star making wellness videos, the film falls at the first hurdle by completely undermining the idea that this is anything but a low-budget film.

It breaks a cardinal sin of Found Footage by having a soundtrack. There is ambient music and non-diagetic sound throughout, which immediately makes the film seem completely disingenuous. The filmmakers seem to have added it because, y'know, that's what happens in scary movies, forgetting that this is meant to be a series of candid, unedited recordings from an amateur filmmaker.

Then there are scenes which seem to be showing what's going on in the protagonists head, despite the fact that it makes no sense that the camera would capture them.

There was the scene with the "string", which featured such laughably unrealistic and entirely unnecessary special effects, it brought the while scene to a grinding halt.

And there are all the scenes where the camera moves in it's own, with no explanation, in just the right way to capture things in a cinematic way.

If you're going to make a found footage film, every single attempt you make to be more cinematic weakens the authenticity, and ultimately just reminds the viewer that they're watching a zero-budget indy movie.

This movie had so much potential. But for me, it fell short. I rather enjoyed the ending, and the movie held my attention throughout. But I felt frustrated at the acting in some parts; in a lot of the scenes, it felt as though they didn't do enough takes; actors/actresses fail to feel real sometimes, and it felt like the director didn't wait until he got the right take.

Also, there were certain scenes that felt rather forced. And the end-twist, although very enjoyable to watch, could be seen coming a mile away.

I would have enjoyed this movie much more, had it been a 30 or 40 minute film in a VHS anthology.

Even though this movie has a fair amount of flaws, it was worth the watch; and I'm curious as to what the director will come out with next.

To my delight, I was treated to this film as the opening night film at the Freak Show Horror Film Festival. With a few exceptions here and there I can say with great passion that I am not a fan of the found footage genre, a genre that has its value in the genre but one that I find repetitive throughout and there always comes a point where I can't find justification in the characters' continued use of a camera outside of the need to carry forward a film for another 70 minutes.

Mind Body Spirit does what few in the genre have managed to do in creating a clever use of the camera and one that justifies its continued use and allows us, without giving spoilers, to not only view this piece through the eyes of our protagonist but as voyeurs as well, looking in on something truly frightening that we shouldn't be looking in on.

There are so few performances here in this one, with Sarah J. Bartholomew expertly carrying the bulk of the film on her shoulders, oftentimes being the only character we see on screen for extended periods of time. Madi Bready offers a strong supporting performance as an overly arrogant influencer and, with the little she has on screen, Anna Knigge also manages a sharp performance that feels emotional and grounded enough in its minimal appearance that it manages to pull the viewer in and make us care for the troubled separation of mother and daughter.

The scares are genuinely impactful, relying on clever camera work and a keen eye rather than jump scares and heavy gore with a minimalist score that never overstays its welcome and never comes too soon.

Overall, I've been to many festivals and seen many films at these festivals and I've never felt so compelled to run to IMDb and leave a review for one of them. This one is different. It's competently made and shows true artistic merit. Flock to this one when it's available. It's most certainly a top tier showcase of indie filmmaking.

An aspiring yoga influencer goes to live in her late grandmother's house while working to elevate her channel and gain a following. A tale of jealousy and family demons, at times literally, is what follows. Mind Body Spirit is the latest in what seems like an endless slew of low budget found footage movies, and I'll start by saying that as far as that goes this one does manage to stand above the majority. Some fun and at times clever camera work and strong performances, especially by Sarah Barholomew, drive the movie and show that everybody involved has a lot of potential down the road. There are moments that are genuinely creepy, particularly a haunting hallucination involving one character witnessing varying versions of her own spiraling sanity. The downside is that the movie becomes more and more repetitive as it continues, and it breaks many a rule that is a no no to break in a found footage flick, particularly with its use of music. It also feels like a watered down version of Hereditary set in the found footage genre, but not being done as well it fails to live up to its obvious inspiration or provide anything unique to that story outside of the yoga setting. Mind Body Spirit has potential and is even worth a watch, but don't go in expecting anything above average which believe it or not is a compliment for this horror sub-genre.

Another film focussing on nauseating self-centred social media influencers. Another "found footage" film that brings nothing new or interesting...potentially even less than the minimum you'd expect.

At points it seems like it's trying to being satirical about how pretentious, ostentatious and vapid influencers are, but it's not done well if that was a motive of the writers as it would be missed by most viewers as the fake product placements ads almost glorify them.

The story itself is rather hollow. While there's some attempt to tie it to ancient slavic rituals of the main character's grandmother and ancestors, there's no depth to it at all, or any real back-story, and is merely a minor attempt to create the basis for the "creepy old lady in the dark" trope.