Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss is definitely not an Oprah-friendly (or whichever cultish pseudoscience-peddling daytime TV personality you prefer) way to achieve enlightenment and happiness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s the upcoming surreal black comedy from director Vivieno Caldinelli and writers Christopher and Clayton Hewitson, all making their feature movie debuts.
Kate Micucci (The voice of Sadie in Steven Universe and Velma in Scooby-Doo) and Sam Huntington (Fanboys) star as a young couple who move to Los Angeles in the hopes of making it big, and they make a great start by nabbing a fancy apartment for a surprisingly cheap price. There’s just one teensy problem: An enigmatic cult leader by the name of Storsh (Taika Waititi) committed suicide in the apartment’s bathtub, and his followers regularly break in to the apartment in order to follow in his footsteps. As the couple encounter more and more of Storsh’s followers coming to meet their maker, they become increasingly drawn to his teachings in an effort to make sense of it all.
The plot synopsis is as follows:
Looking to make a splash in the big city, Claire (Kate Micucci) and Paul (Sam Huntington) relocate from Ohio to Los Angeles. They quickly score a posh new apartment with unbelievably cheap rent—so far, according to plan. But what appears too good to be true, in fact, is. As it turns out, an enigmatic guru (Taika Waititi) committed suicide in the apartment’s bathtub; even worse, an endless string of enthusiastic cultists routinely break into the young couple’s home to ceremonially off themselves in his honor. Unable to afford another move, Claire and Paul find themselves growing increasingly fascinated by the cult’s anti-mortality beliefs.
Let’s take a look:
There’s really not much to say – this is completely absurd, and I love it.
What do you think?
Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss is due for release in the US on 6 March. It also stars Dan Harmon (yes that Dan Harmon, creator of Community and Rick & Morty), Mark McKinney, Rhea Seahorn, Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, Josh Brener, Dana Gould, Lilan Bowden, Matt Jones, and Mindy Sterling.
Last Updated: March 3, 2020
