I loved the concept, which resonated loudly with me. As one that is allergic to 'physical sport' & actually any proactive exercise, and has geek & nerd tendencies in abundance, this piqued my interest. More than that, it's actually got me moving a bit.

Bravo for that alone.

The film is engaging, interesting & even has one developing a connection with the characters/subjects.

As scientific research goes, it's very limited, with the sample size so small, but there's so much existing research out there, we geeks & nerds are more likely to seek it out, because that's what we do, we just need a nudge with the right stick. And this documentary is that stick.

Is this an advert for Asics? Of course, but actually it's gently done and didn't feel cynical, unlike if it were a big pharma documentary.

I happen to like Fry and his voice, and knowing the man from his autobiographies, with his own neuro divergences and struggles with physical exercise, he's well cast for the commentary, adding credibility in spades.

Without doubt this will get some of us moving, and that will inevitably prolong lives.

Well done for a super concept well delivered.

I'll preface this by saying that I am brand loyal to Asics; their shoes got me through my first marathon 5 years ago and since then I've only purchased Asics clothing. The fact that this documentary was produced by Asics was the main reason I watched it so I was prepared for a glorified advert, which is not my issue with the film.

Mind Games sets out to show the correlation between exercise and mental ability which is already a clearly established fact evidenced by countless scientific journals. Filming it for an audience could be a more entertaining and accessible format, but the point is lost because we barely see any improvement in our 4 competitors. One competitor wasn't even able to compete at the end because they contracted Covid-19 making their entire section feel pointless, why not just edit this out?

In the epilogue they show statistics suggesting mental capacity has increased, probably since they couldn't show it in the competitions, but this is also questionable because the results are self reported. The improvement is likely a placebo effect since exercise is great for mental health. If they were able to test mental ability beforehand why couldn't they repeat the test after the 4 months of exercise? And if it is an experiment, 4 people is too small a sample size, and what were the control variables?

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. All of the competitors were really likable people and it was interesting to see their fields of expertise. It's nice to see people exercising on TV who aren't Olympic standards which can be motivational for new comers. Lastly, the film is well produced and has a positive message, people should get more exercise because you will feel better.

Found this documentary very motivating and inspiring. I loved the characters, especially Ben. He needs his own series as a follow up!

As a society, we are in a period of time where so many people sit in front of their screens all day without even considering exercise. This documentary is a great reminder that exercise is essential and can help you perform better even when doing "ming-work".

Casa and Sherri were also excellent case studies and I believe their commitment to exercise in connection with their craft will eventually pay off. Hopefully their success leads to others in their respective activities follow suit!