MIND BODY SPIRIT – a found footage horror film

Sponsored Feature: Welcome Villain Films

MIND BODY SPIRIT is a new found footage horror film written and directed by Alex Henes, Matthew Merenda (writers and directors) and Topher Hendricks (writer).

Watch the trailer here!

Directed by Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda, MIND BODY SPIRIT follows Anya, an aspiring yoga influencer, as she embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother. 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, body and spirit.

A Q&A with directors Alex Henes and Matthew Merenda

Hi Alex and Matt! We’re excited to have you at Rabbit in Red to discuss your new found footage horror film MIND BODY SPIRIT! Tell us about how you came up with the concept for the film.

The germ of the idea was formed during the pandemic lockdown, when we were all getting way too into home fitness/yoga workout youtube videos and simultaneously going stir crazy. Alex had been watching lots of Yoga With Adriene, and our friend Topher noted how the camera adjusted a bit in one of the videos, breaking the illusion that Adriene was alone. We started to wonder, what if something sinister was going on behind the scenes? Out of that inspiration grew the character of Anya, somebody we could both identify with and cringe at, someone living under the pall of this narcissistic internet age, and explore what would drive such a misguidedly ambitious and broken person like that into the dark corners of her past in pursuit of fame and self-empowerment. 

What were your main objectives when you set out to make MIND BODY SPIRIT?

Our goal was to make a lean, mean, freaky found footage midnight movie. Our favorite midnight movies are those witching hour curios that live in a sort of tonal Twilight Zone: funny, freaky, gory, spooky, experimental. We knew that with limited resources and a limited budget we would need to get really creative, so we decided to play with the rules of the horror genre and of found footage especially.

We knew that with limited resources and a limited budget we would need to get really creative, so we decided to play with the rules of the horror genre and of found footage especially.

Can you share a bit about how the film came together? Were you inspired by other found footage horror films or any other films in general?

Host was a huge influence. What Rob Savage and his cast / crew were able to accomplish in 55 minutes absolutely blew us away and really got us thinking about what we could create on such a small scale. Hereditary is another obvious influence, especially in the ways it explores generational trauma. We’re also massive fans of Paul Verhoeven. He’s such a gifted satirist because he never lets the satire overshadow the story he’s trying to tell. This movie, especially the in-world ads, owes a lot to his work.

How was the casting process? Did you already have actors in mind for the roles?

We went in knowing that whichever actor we selected for the role of Anya was receiving an incredible opportunity and facing down a massive challenge. The script required someone who could carry the entire story almost single handedly. So the audition process was very selective and therefore very grueling. But it became clear pretty early on that Sarah J. Bartholomew was our Anya. She brought this natural vulnerability to everything she read for us that made her so instantly endearing. She’s someone you want to root for. And she’s the reason the movie works. 

We found Madi Bready because she auditioned for Anya. But as soon as we saw her self-tape we knew she would make an amazing Kenzi. She and Sarah clash onscreen in so many wonderful ways.

What was your biggest challenge in bringing the film to life?

The biggest challenges were mostly technical, and we kind of did that on purpose. We knew the film was a one-location, mostly one-woman-show, so we wanted to push ourselves creatively in every other way we could to make something special and unique. Sarah and Madi were absolute beasts at nailing all the long takes, and our crew was up to the task of all the camera switcheroos, special effects gags and various hidden cuts and whatnot. The big long take shot running through the entire house while Anya is “asleep” was probably our favorite challenging moment, as it required every single light we rented, and everyone but our DP Blake Horn and Sarah had to be hidden away in one room watching on a remote monitor. And the recurring gag of the spinning camera also proved very hair-raising on set, as everything was done without the aid of computer-motion-control, so almost everything was done in single takes in-camera. Everyone would be stone still during one spin, then everyone would run around and adjust and then freeze again for the next spin, so on and so on. It was a lot of fun but every take had us holding our breath to see if it worked.

The big long take shot running through the entire house while Anya is “asleep” was probably our favorite challenging moment, as it required every single light we rented, and everyone but our DP Blake Horn and Sarah had to be hidden away in one room watching on a remote monitor.

Any fun BTS stories to share?

The house we shot in, a big mansion in the hills of Altadena outside of Los Angeles, was absolutely haunted as hell. We heard weird scratching, things would move after we’d leave for the night, people saw shadows and heard whispers. It was a big old house with a lot of history, and shooting a horror movie about nefarious ancestors isn’t bringing the most positive energy. But we think the ghost, who we lovingly nicknamed George, was a nice ghost, who helped us get everything done on time and on budget. He was probably an Assistant Director in his past life. 

What are the main themes you hope viewers will take away from MIND BODY SPIRIT? 

There’s definitely a strong thematic undercurrent of ‘Be careful what you click for’ that pervades throughout the film. In this digital age, it’s so easy to lose your identity in the hyper-targeted algorithmic chaos of the Internet. We’ve learned to curate these online versions of ourselves and implemented those algorithm influences into our social image to build this sort of branded sense of self. Which, like, we get. That’s being a person in 2024. But it’s important to interrogate every choice you made to get there. Where you’re pulling these influences from. Why you’re presenting yourself the way you are. Is it reactive? Is it performative? Is it appropriation? You might look inward and not find any of the answers to those questions. And that’s okay! But you gotta ask.

Learn more about MIND BODY SPIRIT here and follow @mindbodyspiritfilm on Instagram.

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