PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Hereditary is a film that almost sent me into a panic attack in a completely empty theater. It had me turning around at every noise and looking over my shoulder. So when I saw Mind Body Spirit referred to as a found footage take on Hereditary, I knew I had to check it out.
Did Mind Body Spirit live up to my high expectations?
Synopsis
An aspiring yoga influencer embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother
Mind Body Spirit was directed by Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda from a script they wrote from an original idea by them and Topher Hendricks. The film stars Sarah J. Bartholomew (Sweet Taste of Souls), Madi Bready (Forsaken), KJ Flahive, Anna Knigge, and Kristi Noory.
Here’s a look at the poster art!
The Setup
Anya is an aspiring yoga influencer who has just moved across the country to the home of her dead grandmother she’s never met. While trying to record her first video, she stumbles across a hidden room and a journal made out to her. The book contains a bunch of rituals meant to purify and cleanse the body, but this is a horror film so of course things don’t go as planned.
What Works
One of the strongest elements is Sarah J. Bartholomew’s portrayal of Anya. She plays Anya as a girl with a troubled past who is trying to move past that. Anya is extremely likable and just wants to better herself, find herself and help people in the process. She’s extremely likable. As the film goes on Anya starts to change and its very disturbing to see this innocent, pleasant person become something else. She literally puts her through hell to connect to a dead relative that she sees as a sort of kindred spirit and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to finish the rituals, even if its not for the best.
What Doesn’t
Now for the bad, Mind Body Spirit is fairly predictable. By the hallway point I knew exactly where this film was going and it kind of dulls its impact. It feels a lot like Hereditary but lacks the originality and the cast to back it up. We spent 90% of the film with just Anya and I feel like if she had someone else to play off of more the film would have worked a bit better. There is one scene where she is recording a video with an old friend and her erratic behavior manifests and creates tension. I feel like if Mind Body Spirit had more of this the film would be more successful.
Final Thoughts
Mind Body Spirit isn’t a bad movie, it just lacks in originality and it leads to the movie being a bit of a mixed bag. Sarah J. Bartholomew delivers a strong performance which really helps the film, there are some disturbing moments and it’s really creepy at points, the problem is its very predictable. I would recommend it based on Sarah J. Bartholomew’s performance as Anya as its an extremely disturbing and sad arc.
