What is consciousness? Is it the way a mind absorbs information? Is it what religious folks call a soul? Is it something that can be controlled? If one can harness that power, what can be achieved? These are the questions that lie at the heart of Ben Nissen’s feature-length debut, Nowhere Mind.
Ivan (Patriac Coakley) suffers from Schizoaffective disorder and slowly feels his mind is starting to unravel. As a part-time grad student, he learns of a philosopher’s idea of meditation and how it can lead to absolute mastery of one’s mind and body. Hoping this will help him deal with his mental affliction, Ivan begins taking the practices and theories to heart.
One night, while on a break from work, Ivan runs into a friend from his undergrad days. Emily (Casey Searles) and he have a flirtatious back and forth going, building up to Emily asking Ivan out. The next night they go to a bar, but Ivan finds it hard to concentrate amongst all the noise. Considering they picked up right where they left off previously, Emily suggests the duo goes back to her place. After some fun is had, she reveals that she is engaged to Ivan’s former roommate John (Andrew Graves).
“…idea of meditation and how it can lead to absolute mastery of one’s mind…”
Feeling guilty about the incident, Ivan believes he has a genuine connection to Emily. So he keeps seeing her on the sly. John returns home from a business trip abroad, and the to-be-married couple invites Ivan over for drinks. As John and Ivan commiserate over their time in college, John hits upon an inspired idea. He invites Ivan out to John’s planned wilderness excursion. To keep up appearances, Ivan agrees to the multi-day trip, thinking it could be a good way of clearing his mind to meditate.
