News

Stars: Sarah J. Bartholomew, Anna Knigge, Madi Bready, Kristi Noory | Written and Directed by Alex Henes, Matthew Merenda

Mind Body Spirit may be the first horror film centred around yoga. No, not yoghurt, The Stuff did that decades ago, but yoga. Yes, there was Yoga Hosers, but that was about two yoga practitioners, not about yoga itself. And it was a comedy, which this very definitely isn’t.

Anya was left a house in California by the grandmother she barely knew existed, let alone met. If she’d read a few of my reviews, she would have known what a bad idea that was, though after seeing a video call between her and her mother Lenka (Anna Knigge) I can’t blame her for moving cross-country to become a yoga and fitness influencer, something her childhood friend Kenzi has been very successful at.

It’s while making her first video,...

Who said found footage horror movies are dead? Pun intended and they're thriving. Last year's Lola was a masterpiece, though it wasn't exactly a frightfest like, say, Mind Body Spirit, which drops on digital platforms this week. If the title evokes yoga vibes, that's partly the point. Yes, this movie hits a lot of notes: horror, found footage, yoga, supernatural and more. Hey, yoga once helped Giancarlo Esposito bring his iconic Breaking Bad character to life, but a fictional movie like Mind Body Spirit warns that, combined with the wrong elements, such practices can run haywire.

Directors Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda prove that the possibilities for this fun little subgenre of cinema are seemingly endless. It's no surprise that Welcome Villain Films is the brand behind this horror entry's release, the same studio that released the hard-to-watch movie Beaten to Death and the terrifying film Malum not too long ago.

"This is my heritage, and I am living it!" Welcome Villain Films has revealed an official trailer for Mind Body Spirit, a found footage yoga horror movie from filmmakers Alex Henes & Matthew Merenda making their feature directorial debut. This first premiered at the 2023 Phoenix Film Festival last year, and it will be on VOD this May. Breathe. Find your center... before it finds you. An aspiring yoga influencer embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her grandmother. As Anya becomes obsessed with the mysterious power of the practice, she unwittingly unleashes an otherworldly entity that begins to take control of her life – and her videos. She must figure out how to stop it from consuming her in this "extremely frightening and unsettling" new horror. Starring Sarah J. Bartholomew as Anya, with Madi Bready, Kj Flahive, Anna Knigge, and Kristi Noory. This also won the Audience Award for Best Feature...

A yoga influencer discovers just how flexible fear can be in Mind Body Spirit, a new found footage horror movie that Welcome Villain Films is bringing to the table in a couple weeks.

Mind Body Spirit will release on Digital outlets May 7.

Get twisted with the official trailer and poster art below.

Matt Donato raved in his 4-star review, “Mind Body Spirit is a knockout horror session for the livestream era, which has me desperately waiting to see what its creators and stars do next.”

In Mind Body Spirit, “Anya, an aspiring yoga influencer, embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother. She documents the practice on her YouTube channel for the world to watch, allowing her audience intimate access to her journey.

“But what starts as a spiritual self-help guide evolves into something much more sinister. As Anya becomes obsessed with the mysterious power of the practice,...

Filmmakers could spend the next decade highlighting the mounting horrors of influencer culture, especially with standout dissections like Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda’s Mind Body Spirit. The filmmaking duo organically recreates a hopeful celebrity vlogger’s downward spiral with the utmost Screenlife dedication. Henes and Merenda make tremendous use of a single-location California estate that never feels overused, while cinematography stays cleanly static when recreating YouTube-ready shooting styles. Where other Screenlife titles get bogged down in the technical nitty-gritty, Mind Body Spirit centers on an effortlessly zen production that becomes a haunting supernatural confrontation no positive mental attitude can exorcise.

Sarah J. Bartholomew delivers an obsessively grounded and engagingly imperfect-slash-quirky performance as an aspiring yoga influencer named Anya. We watch a playlist of videos recorded for her not-yet-famous “Mind Body Spirit” channel, complete with themed ad breaks. Everything takes place in Anya’s newly inherited house, a spacious...

A yoga influencer discovers just how flexible fear can be in Mind Body Spirit, an upcoming found footage horror movie that has been acquired by Welcome Villain Films.

The Wrap reports that Mind Body Spirit will release on Digital outlets May 7.

In Mind Body Spirit, “Anya, an aspiring yoga influencer, embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother. She documents the practice on her YouTube channel for the world to watch, allowing her audience intimate access to her journey.

“But what starts as a spiritual self-help guide evolves into something much more sinister. As Anya becomes obsessed with the mysterious power of the practice, she unwittingly unleashes an otherworldly entity that begins to take control of her life – and her videos. Now Anya must race to unlock the truth, before her descent into madness threatens to consume her mind, body and spirit. By the time she reveals...

A yoga influencer discovers just how flexible fear can be in Mind Body Spirit, an upcoming found footage nightmare set to screen next week at the Chattanooga Film Festival.

Just how flexible is fear? Bloody Disgusting has the exclusive trailer debut that teases the back-bending terror. Check it out below.

In Mind Body Spirit, “Anya, an aspiring yoga influencer, embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother. She documents the practice on her YouTube channel for the world to watch, allowing her audience intimate access to her journey. But what starts as a spiritual self-help guide quickly evolves into something much more sinister. As Anya becomes obsessed with the mysterious power of the practice, she unwittingly unleashes an otherworldly entity that begins to take control of her life – and her videos. Now Anya must race to unlock the truth, before her descent into madness threatens to consume her mind,...