HeadlinesExotic Boring

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Davey AB Heritier Spirituality isn't a topic for debate using facts or statistics. It's based on a key factor that cannot be proved: faith. The very definition of the word faith when used in spirituality means to have trust and belief in something you cannot prove. For me, either you have it or you don't. When you have it, there is nothing anyone can say or do to dissuade you from your beliefs and many who do not have it spend a lot of time trying to make those with faith feel stupid or uninformed.Jonas Elrod moves me in this film because of his honest and brave approach of placing his fears in the open and rolling up his sleeves and getting to the bottom of what is happening to him in his new existence. It's an candid journey over three years following a man desperately trying to figure out why he can all of the sudden access spirits and energy's and what his role is in the world with this new sensitivity. I will say, this documentary is very non-threatening. Many films on this topic, at some point, stray from the underlined purpose and try to drive home an agenda or ideology. Frankly, this was just an honest movie about a scared and insecure man just trying to save his relationship with the woman he loves while trying to figure out why the hell all of the sudden he can experience and see things he'd only read about or seen in movies. My take away form this film is something that hit and stuck with me towards the end. Jonas was at with a Native American family going on a vision quest. There was a baby with the father and the baby was so energetic and full of life- soaking in all that was around him and the father was so quiet and patient. I loved the dynamic because the father knew the baby was experiencing and learning all the new things around him, things the baby has never seen. It reminded me of Jonas and his quest for knowledge. For me- what's the difference between a baby being introduced to a new world full of things he's never seen, smelled, felt, tasted, or heard before and the world for Jonas now, which is full of new senses for him to learn and experience. Who are we to judge someone's journey when we don't have the experiences to relate or compare to his? I also learned that in all the Native American languages, there is no term or word for "goodbye", only "til next time". How lovely. So, with that said, til your next film, Jonas Elrod.

FatherOfTwo No real explanation of how he affords all the travelling (does he even have a job?), no attempt to embrace any of the practises that offer him help, and a truly banal revelation that made me question seriously if the previous 90 minutes were worth it. Oh, and don't get me started on the oh-so-obvious guilt issues that command his life which he seems to be utterly oblivious to - or at least loathe to do anything about. Very little makes sense, and with massive coincidences (like his girlfriend's name) and scenes that smack of a set-up the overall feeling one gets from this is apathy, on every level. A semblance of a narrative arc would have been nice, but the story never gets out of second gear with the landscape becoming far more interesting than anything the protagonist does or says. I gave it a 5 because there's some evidence of competency in filmmaking, but with very little to engage with for the audience I can't recommend it.

jackory69 It hit me pretty early on that this was most probably not a "legitimate" documentary but something more along the lines of Joaquin Phoenix'a "I'm Still Here". Still the concept was interesting. Personally I enjoyed the "spiritual journey" aspect that would have been interesting even without the premise of his sixth sense. A reviewer here implied, in so many words, that the film came off as one big advertisement for new age philosophy, etc. I didn't see it that way. On the contrary, Elrod's reactions to practically all of the "mystics" was one of befuddlement, confusion, cynicism and resignation that the journey had not ended...and perhaps it's a paradox that he "found enlightenment" not with modern esoteric theology but in the ancient wisdom of the Native American. On the contrary, I got the impression that some of the new age practices were being skewered. I mean, how foolish do grown men and women look shooting arrows at targets with blindfolds on their eyes??? I give the film a seven because it was interesting and a decent, if concise introduction to unorthodox belief systems. It held my attention.

timmyhollywood I'm surprised there are no other reviews on here. I'll be brief. This film did not impress, and the subject matter struck me as a fakery almost right away.As far as the craft of making a documentary film, there is very little here. Docs need skilled hands just like narratives do. Shooting things on a camcorder and cutting it together does not automatically a documentary film make.As far as the subject matter is concerned, if someone is making claims to be able to see the supernatural (angels, demons, ghosts, etc.) then that person should not be the director of the film. Don't ya think? That's a little bit of a conflict of interest.An even-handed approach to this would have been nice; an objective point of view from a third party filmmaker may have made this watchable. Instead, viewing the subject / director, Jonas, turn the camera on himself as he sits in front of the psychiatrist with this self-deprecating, dismissive schtick about seeing spirits only seemed like a performance.I believe Jonas is lying, and that this is a hoax. But even "hoax" is too big of a word. This is just a guy pretending. The giveaway, for me, is in his put-on cavalier attitude. He continually downplays what is happening to him, acting as though it is embarrassing. He is a very subdued character, shuffling around and mumbling about how he feels goofy burning sage because it is "new age." The film takes a chance and tries to show the viewers something like Jonas is claiming to see. These are CGI "spirits" which float around some people on a New York City street. They look like colored paper underwater, or like the teleporter characters in the X men movies. This could have been a nice touch in a better film, but here, it's only a reminder that we're not actually going to be able to see anything Jonas claims to see, because it doesn't exist. At least, not for him.I give Jonas a little credit for putting this into place with a back story about "how it all happened" - he basically planted seeds for a while before making the doc. This is the only crafty thing I found about his synthetic story.And I have one admission: I didn't make it through the whole film. I got maybe halfway. So maybe in the second half I would have become a believer. I would have stuck around had the crafting of the film been better.