Unpacking

It is hard to find a flaw in this movie, and I'm not even going to try. When you put together the acting, script, location, cinematography, and music, the individual parts merge and become something magical. These are people that you come to really care about, root for, hurt for, laugh for. At first, you think you're going to see a smarmy story about sensitivity groups and new age philosophy, as the characters travel to Bali for some sort of rejuvenation buddy experience--and that's exactly what the filmmaker wants you to think. What you get instead is individual human beings behaving in their individual ways. I wish these characters would come to life, pop out of the screen, so I could form a book discussion group with them, invite them over for dinner, and bring them into my life. Please, please watch this film if you get the chance.

Such a great experience watching this film! I thought it was going to be a mindless "female" oriented film. It was so much more. The writing, acting, filming, all were terrific and the scenery was glorious!

The characters were deeply thought out, and the issues they brought with them to Bali could be identified easily through out our society. Divorce, motherhood, emotional pain, trauma, all were treated with great compassion.

We watch a lot of television on Netflix and Prime and this film is as good as any of them and better than some.

I hope this film is available to anyone who enjoys comedy, but so much more!

Congratulations to all.

This is a very enjoyable film. I felt I could identify with parts of each of the 5 women, and the workshop leader as well. The script doesn't shy away from creating complex characters with all the contradictions and struggles of real life people. It's concise and moving, and beautiful to watch.

I think it must be difficult for a film to rise above the noise with all the mounds of "content" being created these days but this film deserves to be seen! The fact that the filmmakers work together as a collective is also quite inspiring to me. I'm sure they had their moments but the end product is beautifully done.

I enjoyed this film very much. It was like a book page turner . The way each of the characters personalities unfold is well done in the context of a retreat setting . Made me laugh and choke up . I thought the ending seemed a little abrupt but I think they were going for that. They touched upon the woo woo aspect of the retreats methods but still selling the idea that there was merit into the experience. Each character brought their own story to the retreat and the writers expertly wove the stories into a cohesive whole . This film could be a boom to the retreat vaacation business! More from this group!

This movie is a rare treasure. Yes, I laughed and cried. It's reminiscent of "The Breakfast Club" - a group of archetypes together. We have the "aggressive progressive," the mom who's never taken the time to be her own person, the sexually-liberated one into crystals, the free-spirit and rules-follower sister duo, and the culture- appropriating yoga teacher. I'm a middle-aged woman (hence the John Huge reference) and I've been through many self-help rounds depicted here. It was cathartic to be able to laugh at them without feeling laughed at. Because what this film does incredibly well is show that we're all more complex than any caricature, and just trying to do the best we can. The cinematography and soundtrack are beautiful- but a warning to any fellow vertigo warriors that sometimes the quick camera movements can be triggering. I was very fortunate to see the directors/writers along with many cast members interviewed at the Independent Film Festival and was so inspired to learn about the movie's cooperative creative structure. Unpacking guides us, gently and without being preachy, towards a better way.