When I sit down with Annie St-Pierre at the Epidemic Sound Filmmaker & Industry Lounge at SXSW, I don’t expect us to start talking about Reuben and the Dark. But within minutes, we realize we have something in common – her partner plays in the band, a group I’ve seen live multiple times back in Calgary. It’s a small-world moment, but fitting, considering the film we’re here to discuss.

Her latest documentary, Your Higher Self (Le Plein Potentiel), is all about connection – what people seek, what they pay for, and how the search for meaning has become a kind of commodity. The film follows fifteen different life coaches as they guide clients through everything from ice water plunges to spiritual awakenings, all in pursuit of something intangible: self-betterment.

What’s remarkable about St-Pierre is how intensely present she is. It’s the same quality that makes Your Higher Self compelling – it isn’t trying to push an agenda, just quietly witnessing a world that thrives on bold promises of transformation.

What is Your Higher Self About?

At its core, Your Higher Self is a film about connection, yes, but it is also about belief – what we place our faith in, how we seek transformation, and whether that journey is truly within our control.

St-Pierre’s interest in the subject didn’t come from a single moment of inspiration, but rather from a lifetime of exposure to the ideas behind it. “I come from a family that was into personal growth,” she tells me. “It was like a subculture in our home.”

Her parents, despite being divorced, were both devoted to self-improvement in their own ways. Her father followed Tony Robbins, a symbol of structured self-empowerment. Her mother, by contrast, trusted in fate and destiny, believing the universe would sort everything out. “My sister and I weren’t big believers,” St-Pierre says. “But we figured it made them feel good, so no problem.”

As she got older, she began to see parallels between self-improvement and religion – not in a doctrinal sense, but in the way both provide structure, reassurance, and meaning in uncertain times. “There’s less religion in our society now, so we need something else,” she reflects. “We think we have to believe in ourselves. We’re kind of the new God.”

That idea – the shift from external faith to self-faith – became the driving question behind Your Higher Self. “[Coaches are] selling themselves so much, especially on social media, claiming one session can change your life,” she says. “But we know that’s not the real story. But if it’s so big, something must be happening, and I wanted to explore that.” The film became her way of documenting the growing phenomenon of “life coaching”, capturing it as honestly and openly as possible.

Annie St. Pierre on Crafting a Film Without a Thesis

Many films about industries like self-help or wellness culture lean into the extremes – either exposing them as fraudulent or championing them as revelatory. Annie St-Pierre wasn’t interested in doing either.

“I went into this subject with no judgment,” she tells me. “I wanted a nuanced film, something open.” That decision – to resist a binary, “good-versus-bad framing” – sets Your Higher Self apart from more traditional investigative documentaries.

Instead of confirming what audiences might already believe about life coaching, St-Pierre simply presents the experience as it unfolds. The film’s structure mirrors this openness: fifteen different sessions, each offering a distinct approach to self-betterment. Some feel deeply sincere. Others border on the absurd.

The result is a documentary that doesn’t tell you how to feel. “I don’t think we need more polarization in this world; we need to be more welcoming,” St-Pierre says. “I just approached people who present themselves as coaches without questioning whether they were ‘real’ or not, because I don’t know how you’d even define that.”

For some viewers, this lack of a clear thesis may feel frustrating. But showing only one side was never part of the plan for St. Pierre: “I wanted a film where everyone could identify with at least one scene or session, and go through varied emotions – maybe thinking, ‘Oh my God, why are they doing that?’ in one moment, and then feeling touched or inspired in the next,” she says.

Your Higher Self on Human Nature and Perpetual Fear

If there’s one thing that unites the people in Your Higher Self, it’s fear.

Fear of failure, of being uninspiring, of doing too much or not enough. These anxieties surface repeatedly in coaching sessions, from, “I’m afraid of not being inspiring,” followed quickly, in another session, by, “I’m afraid of doing too much or not enough.”

For Annie St-Pierre, this fear isn’t just about life coaching – it’s a reflection of something deeper and universal.

“We’re all lost,” she says. “We all share the same anxiety about not controlling what happens in our lives.”

St-Pierre hopes audiences will recognize something familiar in the film, even if they don’t see themselves as the kind of person who would ever hire a coach.

“I hope viewers will be a little shocked, in a good way, and think about perception,” she says. “How, as individuals, we don’t have many answers, yet we keep finding meaning by opening up.”

By refusing to impose judgment, Your Higher Self holds a mirror to that universal uncertainty – not answering the question, but making us confront why we’re asking it in the first place.

Annie St. Pierre on Creating Both Documentary and Narrative Films

This observational style in St. Pierre’s documentary filmmaking has shaped how she approaches fiction. While her next film will be scripted, she still sees storytelling as an act of discovery.

“Sometimes I want to capture something and it doesn’t happen, so I have to look elsewhere,” she says. “And that’s fantastic because I adapt.”

For her, filmmaking – whether documentary or fiction – is about reacting to what’s in front of her rather than forcing an outcome.

“I find fiction easier after documentary because everyone listens to you and does what you want,” she admits with a laugh.

Her next project, a narrative feature, will be a shift from Your Higher Self, but the instincts she honed while making the documentary – patience, observation, and the ability to pivot – will carry over.

St-Pierre is developing another project with writer Florence Longpré, a period film set in 1960s Quebec. The story follows a woman with a mysterious gift – she can see what people think when she draws them. “It’s a kind of low sci-fi but very realistic and grounded,” she says.

Both projects reflect her ongoing fascination with the human search for meaning – whether through real-life observation or imaginative storytelling. For St-Pierre, it’s never about choosing between documentary and fiction. It’s about letting the story decide.

Should You Watch Your Higher Self?

There’s nothing revolutionary about Your Higher Self. It isn’t an exposé, nor is it a deep dive into the psychology of self-improvement. Instead, it does something far simpler, yet increasingly rare – it allows us to observe without interference, without being told how to feel.

In an era of fast-paced, emotionally manipulative documentaries designed to fit neatly into streaming algorithms, St-Pierre’s approach might feel too open-ended for some. Without sharp edits or dramatic reveals, it asks for patience – something many viewers might not be used to.

But if you’re willing to sit with it, Your Higher Self offers something valuable. It doesn’t tell you what to believe, but it almost inevitably makes you reflect on whatever your preconceived notions may be.

Distribution for Your Higher Self is being handled by Maison 4:3