The drama-fantasy movie The Secret Art of Human Flight (2023) depicts a character who coped with a tragedy. He turned to a mysterious self-help book from the dark web. The book’s author promised that he could learn to fly.
The Tribeca Film Festival nominated the film for Best U.S. Narrative Feature. On June 8, the feature premiered as a part of the festival.
In the film, Ben’s wife, Sarah, died from anaphylaxis. The detectives thought that Ben killed her. In harrowing medium shots at the kitchen table, the police questioned him. He and his sister, Gloria, protested that he would never hurt anyone. The authorities left, dissatisfied with the information. Soon after, in a wide shot, Ben lays down in bed.
A close-up shot showed him scrolling on his computer. He came across a curious video of a man jumping off a cliff. Then, he flew into the air and survived. The random woman who secretly recorded the video shrieked “Are you seeing this?” In another close-up shot, Ben scrolled through the comments.
Many negative comments say that the random woman’s video was faked. Only one comment caught Ben’s eye. It contained a link to the dark web and a promise of leaving the world behind. Ben installed a sketchy internet browser and examined the webpage. Reluctantly, he ordered a weird self-help book for over five thousand dollars. The film established early on that the guru, Mealworm, exists.
One afternoon, he came to the door with the package. He rang the doorbell and Gloria answered the door. He handed the box to her with an eerie smile. She did not think much of the interaction and shut the door. She tossed the shipment onto the kitchen counter. After, she told Ben that a package arrived for him.
When reading it, Ben noticed spelling errors in Chapter One’s title. It erroneously read “The Foriegn Home.” Ben laughed at this but kept flipping the pages. He followed the book’s advice. He removed all lamps and chairs from his home. Using a rope, he pushed his mattress onto the roof. He discarded his bedframe and box springs. He got rid of all plates and silverware. These ridiculous exercises served as metaphors for grief.
Ben’s friends came over for dinner and noticed the decor changes. In his kitchen, they sat in a circle with a pizza box in the middle. They held slices and paper napkins in their fingers. The scene is dim to show the absence of lamps. The camera panned to each friend’s confused face. Each one asked Ben to come home with them. Ben refused each offer and continued with the strange exercises.
In only his underwear, he slept on the roof. He painted his living room blue and decorated the ceiling with makeshift clouds. He ran laps in his backyard without taking a break. He meditated for a long time each day. Soon, the doorbell rang. He shrieked when he saw the book’s author: Mealworm.
In the cloud room, Ben tells Mealworm that he doesn’t want to do this. Perhaps he is afraid of the guru’s intentions. Meanwhile, Mealworm admired the blue walls and makeshift clouds. He tenderly touched each hanging cotton ball. Ben told Mealworm to leave and the guru followed. After, Sarah’s friend, Wendy, appeared at the door with pie.
Ben asked the friend if they could eat together. In medium shots, the pair have a bittersweet chat on his porch. Wendy communicated her condolences. Ben asked for advice on coping with death. She told him to find anything to do, no matter how crazy it may be. Without knowing it, she encouraged him to continue with his training.
Ben worked with Mealworm to learn how to fly. Ben exercised naked in the backyard and meditated naked in his cloud room. He performed strenuous exercises on the lawn. He ate only vegetables for one week. The following week, he ate only meat. Multiple neighbors saw the hysteria and complained to the police.
Detective Reyes urged Ben to stop. She said that it would not help his court case because the jury would view him as crazy. However, Mealworm did not permit Ben to speak. Instead, he made bird calls for seven days. The guru only offered to move his Winnebago. The disgruntled detective left Ben’s house again. Viewers saw home videos of Sarah throughout the movie.
In these recordings, she gave updates on her children’s books. Off-screen, Ben corrected her and asked her to redo the video. It served as a bittersweet memorial to Sarah. Also, it complicated Ben’s character and made his hysteria more plausible. The startling ending left viewers with many questions.
Gloria admitted Ben into a psychiatric hospital. During yard time, Ben thought he saw Mealworm. He panicked and ran to the barbed wire fence. The film cut to a wide shot of the patient’s amazed faces. In another wide shot, Ben landed on the ground. Police cars chased him down the street. Eventually, he arrived at a cliff.
Gloria and her husband caught Ben. He was about to jump. Gloria unsuccessfully tried to talk him out of jumping. After one last hug, he fell off the cliff. Ben underwent a miraculous revelation: he was flying.
The camera showed a wide shot of his body. His arms were stretched in front of him. In another wide shot, people looked up in awe. A faint rainbow passed through his body. Slowly, the buildings and trees turned white. Viewers did not know if Ben learned to fly or passed away. Instead, the feature cut to the credits.
H.P. Mendoza directed the movie, while Jesse Orenstein wrote the screenplay. Markus Mentzer completed the cinematography while Lo Jackson designed the costumes. Charlie Textor created production designs and Terri See assisted with art direction. Stefania Medeiros served as head of the makeup department and Kate Geller selected the cast.
Grant Rosenmeyer succeeded as Ben Grady and Paul Raci excelled in the role of Mealworm. Lucy Devito played Gloria while Reina Hardesty took on Sarah’s character. Maggie Grace played Wendy while Rosa Arredondo played Detective Reyes.