Grieving people deal with it in different ways and sometimes not exactly reasonable. The reoccurring idea is that we are caught off guard at times when death actually happens and do not have the literal or figurative instruments to keep going and take a step ahead in life that for sure will come next. You may think that you are already prepared but that’s all hypothetical hubris until an inevitable day comes. Then you could be eating your own words while saying “what now?” to the surrounding emptiness. Grief forms the central theme of this fantastical little indie gem, The Secret Art of Human Flight, which is finally due for release via the cutting-edge Kino streaming service.
Having been originally premiered at Tribeca Film Festival before hitting the road, H.P. Mendoza’s directorial debut; The Secret Art of Human Flight starring Jesse Orenshein sees Academy Award nominee Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) grasp grief as a surreal healer. Kismet places him alongside Ben (Grant Rosenmeyer) in this wickedly imaginative story that combines comedic elements with fantasy and drama asking us how do we go on and how do we fly?
However, the tragedy is unique concerning who experiences it in The Secret Art of Human Flight since its main character is not an older or middle-aged man but a millennium type whose wife only turned 31 when she passed away. We only see Sarah (Reina Hardesty) as a beautiful, full-of-life young woman in either videos that were shared on social media or those belonging to husband Ben (Grant Rosenmeyer) dog-eared after her demise.
This makes for a strange story structure where we just get one short dose about Ben’s dead partner from whom he got divorced long time ago, as cleverly done by Mendoza through inserting clips into film scenes constituting A-story episodes. This means it gets more complicated about their relationship as Ben eventually seeks peace within himself. No, they were not always in good terms before Sarah died and that is why the movie feels more real.
From the beginning Ben’s alone in a huge empty house. His snappy sister Gloria (the incredible Lucy DeVito) and busybody husband Tom (Nican Robinson) try to keep Ben sane enough to avoid killing him every day but still young widower would rather sit outside on his lawn for days without food or water until one of them finally comes over to help out.
Also, things are bad for him right now: he is behind on his mortgage payments; their children’s book business has gone awry; plus the chief detective leading the case of Sarah’s death from asphyxia (the strikingly attractive Rosa Arredondo) cannot help but suspect Ben killed her. I mean, those life insurances they bought each other when they got married do not make him look any good either. What a mess indeed!
Certainly, history is a matter of chance, and its random incidents like Ben’s A-story are also something that happens in this awesome little indie film. This is thanks to YouTube glory, where the bereaved can find a viral video of an unusual man who jumps from a cliff and then goes back up as if he is flying. Wait, what?
The video’s comments scream “fake” and “bad photoshopping”, but the most random ideas can take over our minds when grief makes our lives feel pointless again. To that end, this crazy clip takes Ben to the deep web where he eventually identifies the man in the video as Mealworm (of course) played by Paul Raci who reliably sublime.
Besides Raci there is some star power here along with Lucy DeVito mentioned earlier and Maggie Grace from Fear the Walking Dead which adds some “grace” to help balance his sometimes overpowering quirkiness opposite Mealworm. As it turns out, Wendy herself is also grieving just like Ben, so they become friends while schooling under Mealworm.
There is nothing for free in this world including Mealworm’s enlightenment on how to die or rather simply put how ‘to leave this world behind’ and literally learn how to fly. As part of learning to fly Ben has been instructed to sleep nearly naked on his roof; a thing not taken well by neighbors as well as sister Gloria. It’s all quirky vintage indie comedy-drama vibes that remind us about how low budget cinema can steal our hearts and even ignite us without having Marvel behind it wallet-wise. For viewers preferring those big budget films it might seem too eccentrically paced but for others it will be an acquired taste.
Human flight has previously been explored on screen metaphorically in movies such as Birdman or Arizona Dream, highly regarded novels such as Song of Solomon or The Secret Art of Human Flight solidifies that group even further. Maybe it will inspire dreamers to brush off such wild passions of theirs and ignore those haters, naysayers who said “forget it”. Kids, don’t try this at home, but you should check out Raci’s heartfelt portrayal of a surrealist type character who just wants to pass on his brave skill especially to people like Ben (played brilliantly by the funny Rosenmeyer) suffering through grief-filled existential crises.
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