Mind Body Spirit and Loads of Yoga Body Horror

Found footage film, Mind Body Spirit wants to immerse you in the idea that sometimes, evil lurks in places of innocence and serenity. With a windfall that sees Anja move across the state to pursue her dream of becoming an influencer, and having a passion for all things Yoga, things are looking up. Her mother isn’t the biggest fan of her paternal Grandmother, but she did leave her an entire house, so one would be remiss not taking up the offer.

Things move into a spooky undertone, just as subtly as the film travels along. Anja enlists the help of a childhood friend, Kenzi who has done a bang-up job of looking and feeling like she is making a difference without actually making a difference at all. Kenzi has already “made it,” and throws Anja a pity bone by agreeing to appear in her new venture, a show about Mind, Body, and Spirit.

While playing around with filming techniques and segments for her new channel, Anja discovers a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf. She discovers a dusty journal left on a conspicuously creepy altar by her late Grandmother Verasha. Despite the location of the book, Anja is excited to have something so personal and relatable to her life in the present. She sees it as a sign to continue her quest and the book looks geared towards cleansing rituals that she can follow along with her new viewers. Suddenly Anja gets the familiar connection she has always wondered about when it comes to her Grandmother and she feels excited to be doing something that runs in the family.

Mind, Body Spirit has an extremely small cast. For the most part, it’s just Anja as she finds her footing in the influencer niche. Step by step she works her way through the journal and on task to spiritual enlightenment. The scares are small to start with. Shadows, the glimpse of another person within shots as she films, and small effects the audience can grab hold of as her confidence and nice girl nature both change on camera and off.

Mind Body Spirit

Directors Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda wrote the story for Mind Body Spirit alongside additional writing from Topher Hendricks. All first-timers, the trio manages a super slick scary movie that does a great job amping up the tension in measured doses. The newfound animosity that suddenly rears up towards Kenzi, an obsessive-like atmosphere that seeps out of Anja as she follows each ritual and the observation that something bad is about to happen engagingly steers the movie.

Characterizations in Mind Body Spirit are likable where it counts. Anja (Sarah J. Bartholomew) is incredible to watch and does a commendable job as the center of attention, generally being the only person on screen. The introduction of Yoga into a horror movie is a pleasant change of setting when compared to the many other variants of the found footage niche. 2022’s Australian film Sissy dabbled in a similar arena but without the found footage aesthetic. Kenzi (Madi Bready) while also excellent in her portrayal of an egotistical front runner is equally as enjoyable to watch.

Cinematography is a major highlight for budding filmmakers. Orchestrating loads of prickles menace to bite into, and some technical body horror elements, Mind Body Spirit is next level when considering the budget and norms for POV films. I did notice that some of the more on-trend tricks were not completely thought through. A small faux pa, some of the more gimmicky glances at a malevolent spirit, as the camera pans the room, are left unseen for way too long. Given Anja should be looking at what she is filming, if not to improve her practice but to also see how she is shaping up, left room for a small pothole.

Fortunately, Mind Body Spirit concludes with a strong final quarter that includes one of those scenes found footage fans want. Despite not being overly unique in its delivery, the final quarter will make loads of horror fans very happy they watched.

Mind Body Spirit is rated

3.75 Vakrasana movies out of 5

Where to Watch Mind Body Spirit 2023 Movie

The horror movie went digital on May 7th, watch it here.

For another review of Mind Body Spirit movie, read from FearsMagazine.

Mind Body Spirit 2023 is streaming on:

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