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We’ve seen Zoom call horror (Host), and live-stream horror (Deadstream), and now Welcome Villain Films brings us ‘wellness influencer horror’. This realm of online content can easily veer into the uncanny with its commodification of health and self-care through ultra-positive ambassadors. Mind Body Spirit explores the pitfalls of this lucrative corner of the internet while telling the haunting story of a woman trying to break into the industry.

Anya (Sarah J. Bartholomew) is a woman who is lost and on a journey to find herself through the online wellness community. She is able to embark on this venture by inheriting her estranged grandmother’s house which becomes her filming space. The film is shot like a found footage movie as she switches between her “on-screen” yogi persona and the woman struggling to find meaning in what she is doing. Bartholomew does a fantastic job in this practically one-woman show.

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,...

"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...

I come from a faith-based family and upbringing so this idea of yoga horror tickles me, even within the constructs of the found footage genre. The notion of ancient rituals unleashing unholy entites is not new, I've just never seen it linked to the peaceful and purposeful practice of yoga. This is a first, for me. Oh, I can hear all those church leaders and elders now, "See? See what happens when you open yourself to Eastern practices and New Age religions?".    Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda's found footage horror Mind Body Spirit has been acquired by Welcome Villain Films, who will distribute the horror flick through digital platforms worldwide on May 7th. It looks like it will make one more festival appearance at the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

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,...

Upcoming Screambox sci-fi horror movie Subject is among the densely packed final wave of programming for the upcoming Chattanooga Film Festival!

The Chattanooga Film Festival 2023 returns in person and virtually for its tenth year, taking place June 23 through 29! The beloved festival will return to an in person event for the first time since 2019, from June 23 through 25, while still offering a virtual experience from June 23 through 29.

Cff 2023 will be the North American Premiere of director Tristan Barr’s cerebral Canadian sci-fi horror Subject. Barr’s film also signifies the third in a trilogy of terror-ific special screenings presented by Screambox, joining previously announced films We Might Hurt Each Other and Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls.

Twenty-two features, events, and more join the packed programming.

For those attending in person, the main venue will be Chattanooga’s historic and legendary haunted The Read House Hotel. The hotel’s 1920’s...

[1] What is Page 2? Page 2 is a compilation of stories and news tidbits, which for whatever reason, didn’t make the front page of /Film. After the jump we’ve included 24 different items, fun images, videos, casting tidbits, articles of interest and more. It’s like a mystery grab bag of movie web related goodness. If you have any interesting items that we might've missed that you think should go in /Film's Page 2 - email us [2]! LOLMart [3] is selling a t-shirt of three groundhogs dressed like three of Bill Murray's memorable roles. [4] /Film reader Matt Merenda created a poster for The Social Network. Here is explanation from the artist: "Took a cue from that great Citizen Kane still of Orson Welles in front a giant picture of his own face, and since this movie is all about power, I wanted to try something with it. If you can find a...

The Social Network which is widely regarded as the best film of 2010 shares a great deal in common with Citizen Kane, which is widely regarded as the best film of all time. Well now artist Matt Merenda created a poster for The Social Network, citing the inluence of Orson Welles saying, “Took a cue from that great Citizen Kane still of Orson Welles in front a giant picture of his own face, and since this movie is all about power, I wanted to try something with it.”

via /film via [flickr]...

What is Movie News After Dark? This is a question that I am almost never asked, but I will answer it for you anyway. Movie News After Dark is Fsr’s newest late-night secretion, a column dedicated to all of the news stories that slip past our daytime editorial staff and make it into my curiously chubby RSS ‘flagged’ box. It will (but is not guaranteed to) include relevant movie news, links to insightful commentary and other film-related shenanigans. I may also throw in a link to something TV-related here or there. It will also serve as my place of record for being both charming and sharp-witted, but most likely I will be neither of the two. I write this stuff late at night, what do you expect? Tonight’s entry is brought to you by the concept of brevity… It’s Groundhog Day, and the most delightful Groundhog Day related thing I’ve seen today is...