Having no real previous exposure to the idea of "Indigo Children," I agreed to catch a screening of this movie written by two 'spiritual gurus' of our times, Neal Donald Walsh (Conversations with God) and James Twyman.<br /><br />The screening was held at a local Unity church, which is an organization branched from the New Thought movement. I had never been to a Unity church, so this was also a new experience for me.<br /><br />The basic plot centers around a little girl with special powers and her chemistry with her cynical grandfather. Through allegory, we are presented the recycled messianic ideology of "Indigo Children." Basically, these children have psi abilities, and they are able to heal with their hands. They communicate with each other via a psychic energy grid, they can see dead people, and they have 'indigo' auras. What I can piece together of the general theory behind IC is that Mother Nature has taken an extreme leap of evolution to create 'superkids' capable of saving us from ourselves. At least that is my impression via this film.<br /><br />It all seems a bit airy-fairy to me, but first to the technical/artistic notes.<br /><br />The film suffers from lack of artistic depth. Regardless of who is directing (Stephen Simon, who produced the brilliant and somewhat depressing film Somewhere in Time), it feels like a made-for-Lifetime-TV movie, but worse. The acting - by nearly everyone involved - is cardboard dry and occasionally eye-rollingly dorky. No character has any real conviction, though the little girl sure is cute (and for a child actress, fairly talented). Like a high-school play, everyone is simply going through the motions and playing out their lines. I wasn't expecting Werner Herzog or even Stephen Soderburg, but one expects more than basic home computer editing for a $10 price tag (and no Popcorn!). It also didn't help that it wasn't presented in the correct aspect ratio, so everybody was 'long' throughout the film (this was the Church's fault, not the film's, but it was still irritating).<br /><br />I looked up "Indigo Children" and the protagonist plays the part well enough, with some miraculous 'psi' enhancements. It's a charming little attraction, this indigo meme. But I just don't buy it. The idea that certain children have special abilities that nobody else has makes for great comic book and pulp SF reading, but when it's used to peddle a corny, new age ideology, it wears a bit thin. Sure, I believe in the possibility of psi abilities, of spiritual evolution and unexplained phenomena, but I simply cannot believe that Mother Nature would speed up evolution to the degree that our children become our super-saviors. It sounds nice, but it's a cop out for not wanting to feel guilty or responsible ourselves.<br /><br />Anyone's entitled to their beliefs, of course. While somewhat more convincing than the 'charged water' karma-busting computer treatments that were peddled via the New Thought circuit a few years ago (SANCTUARY), the candy-coated sweetness of this subtly fascist approach to spirituality makes it all the more important to stop this meme and get on to something with some real depth and intelligence.<br /><br />zzzzzzzz.