Clairevoyant

From director Micaela Wittman, Clairevoyant follows a young rich girl as she hires a camera crew to document her spiritual journey to enlightenment in modern Los Angeles. Unfortunately, even though she has the money, she can’t seem to buy a clue as to what she is getting herself into.

Claire takes us through her journey of enlightenment through the streets of Los Angeles, meeting up with gurus, yoga instructors, and everyone in-between as long as they have some sort of tie to spirituality, even by accident. Claire is on the ditzy side as she looks up to Tim Robbins as her first spiritual guide – with that information, you can already imagine where this is going. But, as with any journey, Claire runs into a few bumps in the roads that will test her will to continue. Will she give up, or will she reach her personal nirvana?

“…hires a camera crew to document her spiritual journey to enlightenment in modern Los Angeles.”

The mockumentary style the film is shot in works heavily in its favor. It gives it a feel of something Borat mixed with The Office. Now, I’m not saying it is in the realm of being as funny as the two projects mentioned, but there are some similarities, and Clairevoyant is funny on its own. There are times when characters will look awkwardly look into the camera after unsure if they are a part of a joke, and there are times when Claire will make herself look foolish in front of strangers just for the sake of the story. However, nothing is done in a prank-ish kind of way as mostly everything is scripted, so it does not seem to be causing any harm to anyone.

Staying on the subject of harm. There may be some jokes that may be offensive to some. I, for one, did not find them offensive, but that’s just speaking for myself. I felt that the majority of jokes were made to show how ignorant and clueless Claire was to ethnicity, nationality, culture, and spirituality. Since Micaela Wittman is the film’s writer, director, and star, she plays the jokes on herself. And she uses these jokes to show growth in character by the end of the film. So yes, there is character growth in the film, which means there is also a payoff to all of the ridiculousness that is going on.

I have never heard of Micaela Wittman prior to this film, and looking up her credits, she has a few to her name, but I’m sure she will have much more after this film. I believe she is a huge talent all around. As I had mentioned before, she is one of the writers, directors, and the star of the film, so she can do it all. I can not wait to see more work from her. Not only was the film actually funny, but it has heart to it. It had a good build-up to make everything matter in the final act. And even if the final message of the film may seem cheesy, it can still mean something to someone who has been scared to try something different.