Tantric Tourists

Like lambs to the slaughter, a flock of tantra-curious and weepy middle-aged American tourists take a short trip around India in this pleasant but uninquiring and dull-looking sub-Louis Theroux doc, the basic charms of which belong on television.

‘Men can be mothers and give birth,’ argues charismatic tour guide and Bette Midler lookalike, Laurie, before leading a round of therapeutic breathing exercises and sphincter squeezing with her ten new recruits, many of them single, vulnerable and looking for something more in life. As we travel around Rajasthan and head to Varanasi, the cheeky threat of sexual exploration or just titillation hinted at by the title remains just that and an insipid voicover tries more desperately to wring themes relating to personal transformation and the search for the real India from footage that never delves deeply into the motivations of its subjects. For the want of anything more meaty, we spend far too long witnessing tedious business such as uncomfortable train travel, missing luggage and unwanted food. Yawn.