The Story
One Family.
One Inspection.
Absolutely No Plan.
LIFANDI begins as a hilarious workplace mockumentary about an eccentric family trying to run an ultra luxe wellness grocery store.
Then things get considerably darker.
The Setup
Welcome to
Lifandi.
Healthier. Better. More exclusive.
At least, that's the idea.
LIFANDI opens inside the gleaming Los Angeles flagship: $20 strawberries, Bieber style smoothies, “speedball” bone broth, and actual celebrity testimonials (Jack Black, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and more!) before taking a bold turn to Kansas City, Missouri.
Then we leave Los Angeles.
Welcome to Kansas City, Missouri.
Here, Wilbur Wright and his chaotic but lovable family crew are running Lifandi's first franchise test store.
They're two months into a soft opening.
And corporate is coming.
Act I · The Inspection
What Could
Possibly Go Wrong?
A very important executive is coming to inspect Lifandi.
- The store must be immaculate.
- The staff must be professional.
- Wilbur must remain calm.
- Lose franchise money and store goes bankrupt.
So naturally, everyone makes a series of excellent decisions.
By the time the inspection begins, wellness has already become a problem.
And the day is just getting started.
ACT I LIFANDI opens with a glossy, documentary style tour of Lifandi’s Los Angeles flagship store, featuring actual celebrity testimonials about $20 strawberries, “speedball” bone broth, and how only the wealthiest deserve the healthiest. The action shifts to Kansas City, Missouri, home of Lifandi’s first franchise test store, run by a chaotic but lovable family crew headed by Wilbur Wright. Two months into its soft opening, the store is staring down an imminent corporate inspection from VP Ingibjörg Logadottir of Reykjavik, Iceland where Lifandi was founded. On the day of the inspection, Wilbur and a cadre of “wellness warriors” have a bad trip on Ayahuasca and ruin everything.
Act II · The Brother. The Butcher.
Things Get
A Little Worse.
Wilbur’s estranged brother Orville shows up at exactly the wrong time.
Then a butcher gets involved.
Then things become surprisingly difficult to explain to Human Resources.
From there, LIFANDI takes a sharp turn from workplace comedy into something much stranger.
There are bad decisions.
There are worse solutions.
And there is absolutely no reason to check the virtual meat section.
ACT II Wilbur’s estranged brother Orville reappears and takes the blame for the Ayahuasca fiasco. Ingibjörg buys his fib and everything seems to be back on track until Raymond the butcher tries to murder Orville as the film surprisingly shifts to a comedy horror tone. The brothers fend off the attack and kill Raymond in an over the top self defensive blood bath. Orville admits that he’s had a hit put out on him and that Raymond’s body must never be discovered. The brothers hatch a plan to butcher Raymond and hide him in the “virtual meat” section until they can have it properly disposed.
Act III · A Sustainable Solution
Some Problems
Market Themselves.
- Raymond’s “meat” makes its way onto the shelves as Lifandi’s premium vegetarian virtual meat (think Impossible Burger’s version of Sweeney Todd).
- To Wilbur and Orville’s horror, the vegans are delighted! “This is the best vegan meat I’ve ever tasted!”
- And when the horrific truth finally emerges… Lifandi kicks into social satire overdrive!
ACT III By accident, Raymond’s “meat” is sold to Lifandi’s high end clientele as vegetarian “virtual meat” and… they love it! Unfortunately the shoe drops but when the latte liberal clientele learn the meat is human… they embrace it as a truly “sustainable, environmentally sound, forward looking” protein alternative. The brothers end as heroes as the film’s satire lands with a sledgehammer. Lifandi is an escalating, absurd high wire act, a satire of ambition, branding, and modern wellness culture.
What Lifandi Is Really About
Wellness.Food.Wealth.Appetite.
LIFANDI is a satire of modern wellness culture and our extraordinary ability to turn almost anything into a lifestyle choice.
Health becomes status.
Status becomes branding.
Branding becomes morality.
And somewhere along the way, everybody gets hungry.
The Format · How It's Made
Grounded
Absurdity.
Hilarious, observational mockumentary style.
LIFANDI uses direct to camera interviews, improvisational dialogue and a tightly structured story to make the absurd feel just plausible enough.
It’s the comic approach previously used by the creative team behind 10 Items or Less and Quick Draw:
Play it completely straight.
Especially when absolutely nothing is.
