Grief is a complex subject, often overwhelming to navigate. People believe it can be processed over a period without much deliberation. However, the reality is much different. Especially in the modern age, we do not have enough time to pay attention to our emotions with the sheer scope of work we need for mere survival. That’s why most expect grief to be forgotten or sidelined by our unavoidable responsibilities or distractions. So, processing emotions can feel like a chore in itself. “The Secret Art of Human Flight” attempts to explore similar turmoil.
Written by Jesse Orenshein and directed by H.P. Mendoza, this indie film follows Ben Grady (Grant Rosenmeyer), a recently widowed cartoonist, who has a hard time processing the loss of his dear wife, Sarah (Reina Hardesty). After her death, he detaches himself from his responsibilities and from people who care about him, like his sister, Gloria (Lucy DeVito), and her husband, Tom (Nican Robinson). Then, he hops onto the internet and succumbs to the options that promise a solution to his misery. Somehow, on the dark web, he comes across an ad for an enigmatic guru named ‘Mealworm’ (Paul Raci).
Mealworm promises to solve all of Ben’s emotional troubles arising from his wife’s death. However, for that to happen, Ben needs to go through a strange process where he needs to let go of his material possessions. This guru claims that these possessions bind Ben to the complicated emotions he can’t seem to process. So, under mealworm’s guidance, Ben throws away his chairs and whatnot because of a random old quote that once claimed something about them. The same applies to other products that keep him stuck in his material past. After doing that, Ben has to sleep on the roof with minimal clothes. He also needs to let this guru stay at his house with him.
Ben keeps digging himself a bigger hole by trusting every word from Mealworm’s mouth. He believes Mealworm has earnest intentions due to a similarly traumatic past. So, he holds this guest in higher regard than his family. Gloria and Tom try to get Ben out of his frivolous process. But Ben refuses to let go of Mealworm’s teaching, likely because he fears doing so would remind him more of Sarah and how he took her for granted. Simultaneously, he needs to prove that he is not behind Sarah’s death in any way.
Throughout the film, we see flashes of Ben’s past and his complicated history with Sarah. The two were also work partners, which has its usual pros and cons. There are clashes based on ego, insecurity, or agency. So, besides some cutesy moments, we see arguments and disagreements between them. Mealworm’s process never directly helps Ben process these troubles. It has no interest in dissecting Ben’s past or his mistakes. Instead, it wants to ease his turmoil by so-called spiritual distractions. The film also admits this during Ben’s conversation with a widow friend, Wendy (Maggie Grace). She tells him the value of taking your mind off the numbing pain.
So, in its fanciful manner, the film shows Ben trying to master ‘The Secret Art of Human Flight.’ As a metaphor, it is plain and straightforward about the process of letting go. However, while doing so, it presents a confusing portrait of its pseudo-spiritual white guru. Should we despise him for preying on someone’s vulnerabilities or praise him for his resilience? After all, the Western world is overtly interested in Eastern philosophies and looks at it through a strange, exotic lens. The film doesn’t make it clear whether it wants to critique this quackery in the Western world or be a sincere drama about the exploration of grief.
Even when the film deals with grief, it spends much time on its whimsical scenes instead of investigating its psychological subtext. Even as ‘a story about a creative’, it spends unreasonable time on these outlandish scenes. Besides, while ‘letting go’ is important, acknowledging your pain or mistakes is equally important. As a non-Western person, this film feels oddly invested in its own interpretation of spirituality rather than processing one’s emotions. So, despite a sincere sentiment, “The Secret Art of Human Flight” gets lost in translation.
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