A Quirky Meditation on Grief

Summary

• A surreal healer guides a grief-stricken widower on a wild journey to learn how to fly in this fantastical film.
• The Secret Art of Human Flight
  is a unique indie gem that explores the complexities of grief through humor, fantasy, and drama.
• The eccentric, small, and oddly paced film may not appeal to all, but charms with heartfelt and funny performances.

People deal with grief in a variety of ways and, understandably, not always with total rationality. The through line is that even if we see it coming, we’re not always well-equipped with the literal and figurative tools to cope and take the next step forward in life when tragedy indeed strikes. Sure, you may think you’re equipped, but it’s all hypothetical hubris until the fateful day strikes. Then, you might just find yourself swallowing your words and instead uttering to the surrounding emptiness, “Now what?” Grief is the central theme in The Secret Art of Human Flight, a fantastical little indie gem now getting its digital release through the forward-thinking Kino streaming service.

Originally premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival before making the rounds, director H.P. Mendoza and writer Jesse Orenshein’s The Secret Art of Human Flight sees Academy Award nominee Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) pouncing on the opportunity of grief in the form of a surreal healer. Kismet gets him involved with Ben (Grant Rosenmeyer) in this wildly inventive tale that weaves together humor, fantasy, and drama to ask the questions: how do we move on, and how do we fly?

Life After Love

The Secret Art of Human Flight (2024)

3.5/5

In the wake of a tragedy, a grieving widower (Grant Rosenmeyer) turns to a mysterious self-help book from the dark web. Written by an eccentric guru (Paul Raci), the book promises to unlock the ability to fly.

Release Date July 5, 2024

Director H.P. Mendoza

Writers H.P. Mendoza

Distributor(s) Kino Lorber , Level 33 Entertainment

Pros

• A uniquely fantastical tale that refuses to compromise, with a sublime Paul Raci.
• Lucy DeVito steals all her scenes, and the whole cast is charming.

Cons

• May be too eccentric, small, and oddly paced for some.

Tragedy strikes a unique subject in The Secret Art of Human Flight, given that the widower protagonist is not some middle-aged or elderly gentleman, but rather a millennial type whose wife was a mere 31 years of age when she passed. We see the beautiful and vibrant Sarah (Reina Hardesty) only in recorded videos that have either been shared on social media or now belong to husband Ben (Grant Rosenmeyer) for his own private mourning.

It makes for a unique story structure, as this is the only dosage we get of Ben’s now-deceased partner, with director Mendoza cleverly sprinkling in the clips to drive the A-story. In effect, we learn more about the couple’s complicated rapport as Ben’s quest for inner peace continues on. No, things weren’t always peachy before Sarah passed, making the feature film all the more grounded and relatable.

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Grant Rosenmeyer Plays a Man in a Miserable Mess

Right off the bat, Ben is already alone in a big empty home. His hotheaded sister Gloria (the terrific Lucy DeVito) and nosy husband Tom (Nican Robinson) try to keep Ben sane and — quite frankly — alive, but the young widower would rather sit out on his lawn for days at a time without food or water until one of them finally comes over to intervene.

His life is a mess in other ways now: He’s behind on mortgage payments, the children’s book career he launched with Sarah has been on the fritz, and now, the lead detective on Sarah’s death-by-asphyxiation case (the sharply appealing Rosa Arredondo) can’t help but suspect Ben had something to do with Sarah’s demise. After all, those life insurance policies they took out on each other back when they got hitched don’t help his case. Oof, what a mess indeed.

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Paul Raci: Shady Healer

In many ways, history is happenstance, and the random occurrences which comprise it could similarly be applied to how Ben’s A-story kicks into high gear in this nifty little independent film. Thanks to YouTube and its infinite glory, the bedridden griever stumbles upon a viral video of a strange man quite literally cliff-diving and re-ascending up into the skies, as if he’s flying. Wait, what?

The video’s comments cry “fake” and “bad photoshopping,” but whenever grief strikes and renders our lives feeling pointless, the most random of notions can take hold of our brains and give meaning to our existence once again. On that note, this wild clip leads Ben to the dark web, where he ultimately discovers the shady identity of the man in the video: He goes by the name Mealworm (of course), and he’s played by the reliably sublime Paul Raci.

It helps that there’s a bit of star power beyond Raci, and it comes in the form of the aforementioned Lucy DeVito and Fear the Walking Dead alum Maggie Grace, indeed bringing a lovely dose of “grace” to help balance out Ben’s sometimes overwhelming quirkiness opposite Mealworm. Grace plays Wendy, another grief-stricken local who takes a friendly liking to Ben after they meet as Mealworm’s ‘students.’

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The Secret Art of Vintage Indie Dramedy

Nothing in this world is free, and that includes Mealworm’s services to teach Ben how to, quite simply, “leave this world behind” and literally learn how to fly. Part of Ben’s training to fly requires him to sleep virtually naked on his roof, which the neighbors and sister Gloria are not taking well. It’s all quirky, vintage indie comedy-drama vibes that remind us of the joy of low-budget cinema that can capture our hearts and inspire us without a Marvel-sized pocketbook behind the lens. It may be too eccentric and oddly paced for viewers who prefer those massively budgeted movies, but for others, it’s a niche treat.

Human flight has been explored as an allegory on the big screen in films like Birdman and Arizona Dream, and acclaimed books like Song of Solomon, and The Secret Art of Human Flight is a solid addition to the pantheon. It will perhaps inspire dreamers to dust off those crazed passions of theirs and forget the haters and naysayers that told them “forget it” once upon a time. Kids, don’t try this at home, but you are encouraged to indulge in Raci’s heartfelt, scene-stealing portrayal of a surrealist figure who wants to pay his daring ability forward, especially to those like Ben (played to perfection by the hilarious Rosenmeyer) suffering from a grief-stricken existential crisis.

From Level 33 Entertainment, you can rent or stream The Secret Art of Human Flight on Kino+ below:

Watch on Kino+

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