MIND BODY SPIRIT (2023) Meditates On The Horror Of Fitness Influencers
The horror of social media can be personified through the rise of the online influencer. Influencer marketing isn’t a new phenomenon, but over the last two decades, it has been democratized through technological advances and a society that elevates hustle culture. Anyone and everyone can be an influencer, as long as you have a cell phone and an internet connection, but not everyone will find an audience. The dark side of influencing has been reported on before, and the horror genre is always keen to stay close to these trends as they are ripe for the picking. In lock-step with these trends, the sub-genre of found footage has become a perfect canvas to lambast the superficial, self-promotional, and sometimes sociopathic behavior exhibited by others as a means to gain fame and popularity. Going viral is now a badge of internet honor, no matter the cost, and it isn’t odd for young kids to aspire to be YouTube personalities since it is how they grew up experiencing the world. One of the most vain niches of influencer culture is the well-being and lifestyle influencers. The ones who tell you to go vegan, or do HIIT workouts that are perfectly curated to inspire envy and self-doubt. This is the sub-culture that Welcome Villain’s newest film Mind Body Spirit is steeped in.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
An aspiring yoga influencer embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother.
HOW IS IT?
If one wants to understand the impact of technology on the horror genre, one needn’t look further than the found footage genre. As the ubiquity of video cameras has grown, so has the genre and its ability to deliver shocks in ways akin to how we experience the world in our techno-laden landscape. ”Mind Body Spirit” taps directly into our current zeitgeist with a premise that many of us will easily have a reference for, influencer culture. Not just any influencer culture, but the world of health, wellbeing, and fitness influencers. When ”Mind Body Spirit” is at its best, it is lampooning the culture that the main character, Anya (Sarah J. Bartholomew) is desperately trying to break into and leaning into the aesthetic with fake ads making the viewer feel as if this is some sort of livestream. The horror is dual-edged, taking shape figuratively as the story of trying to make it in the vain world of lifestyle-influencing, but more literally in how some will go to great lengths to build a brand no matter what. Unfortunately, the inconsistency in committing to the found footage aesthetic and the lack of shock bring the film's overall impact down.
The setup for ”Mind Body Spirit” is quite intriguing. Anya recently relocated to her now-deceased and estranged grandma’s (Verasha) house and is trying to start her online yoga-influencing practice. Anya’s attempts to make her first video journal should resonate with those among us who post videos of themselves on Instagram or live stream on platforms like Twitch. She is adorably clueless, but trying her best to make this work. When she finds a hidden room containing a handmade journal made explicitly for her by Verasha, she does what any influence trying to build their brand would do, she live streams a ritual she finds within the pages to see what happens. What follows won’t surprise anyone who has seen a found footage movie made in the last decade. While the delivery isn’t unique, what ”Mind Body Spirit” does quite well is interweave a series of faux ads taking aim at the kind of groan and cringe-inducing capitalist-driven wellbeing culture you’re bound to see on every social media platform. Anya’s childhood friend, Kenzi (Madi Bready) is the epitome of this as she uses buzzwords, sexuality, and marketing to carve a space for herself in the crowded world of pretty people making workout videos. Anya’s journey of self-discovery is also one of self-destruction, as is evident in the continued downward spiral she goes through with each part of the ritual she subscribes to. That ritual is two-fold. In the literal sense from the book Verahsa left her, and the figurative sense as Anya tries to find her voice and persona as an aspiring online yoga influencer. Anya is the focus of ”Mind Body Spirit” and Sarah J. Bartholomew is on-screen for almost the entire film. It is a testament to her performance that at no point is Anya ever boring. Even in some of the film's slowest moments, Anya is convincing as someone you want to root for, even if her character and intentions are rather cliche.
”Mind Body Spirit” struggles most with the inconsistency of the script's aesthetic and the effective delivery of its horror elements. The magic of great found footage is immersion, and when done right the viewer feels almost voyeuristic delight in being privy to something that feels dangerous and forbidden. ”Mind Body Spirit” attempts to do this through the lens of live streaming and our always-on technology, but it never fully commits to that idea. There are moments when the camera is recording, and we aren’t sure why it would be. Other found footage films like 2013’s The Borderlands or more recently 2022’s Deadstream make it a point to call out the techniques being deployed so that the viewer isn’t surprised by different camera angles or movements, but in ”Mind Body Spirit” the point of view is always changing. The faux ads, buffering circles, and jittery screens act against the found footage concept since we are also led to believe that this is a live stream, but it isn’t always clear if what we see is happening or has happened. The most egregious is how the camera will do 360 spins, seemingly by the spirit of Verasha, but these moments often obscure and distract from the more interesting things happening. This may be due to budgetary limitations, but it also makes the film feel like it is buffering away the shock value. The final act is the biggest example of this, as the camera spins while the climax is happening and we only get a glimpse of the brutality happening on screen. So many moments of impact would’ve been better served if the camera stayed put and made the viewer watch the horrors happening. This is a shame too, because the moments when things pull back are the moments you are here to see. The unfortunate side-effect of these choices is that the film’s pacing isn’t as snappy as it needs to be, and the finale feels less foreboding.
LAST RITES
”Mind Body Spirit” works well as a takedown of lifestyle/well-being influencer culture as it pokes fun at the superficiality of it all through the lens of live-streaming found footage. As a horror film, it has some hallmarks, but it loses impact due to breaking the found-footage fourth wall too often and not leaning into its most shocking moments.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
Starring
Where can you watch it?
MIND BODY SPIRIT Premieres On Digital VOD May 7, 2024!
Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
