A minimalist reviewing »Less Is Now« (The Minimalists documentary movie »Less Is Now« review)

This is a movie review of The Minimalist's documentary about minimalism, »Less Is Now« published on Netflix January 1, 2021.

A minimalist's review of »Less Is Now«

I've been a minimalist for quite some time now and also a frequent listener to The Minimalists Podcast. I do not consume much »minimalism content« though, usually. But some friends of mine asked me about my opinion on this film, so I watched it. And afterwards I thought, okay, why not make a video about it? Because this is what I think:

In my opinion, this movie is not so much about minimalism and it certainly is not an introduction to minimalism at all. In fact, I was quite disappointed after watching this. In this video I'm explaining why.

My »Less Is Now« review focuses on the overall impression of this movie, but if you want to read more about my take on minimalism and my reasons not to recommend this film, please have a look at my blog article about it :-)

You can also take a look at the reviews on IMDB here:

»Less Is Now« is supposed to be a documentary. It came out in January 2021, so the perfect timing for decluttering - having in mind all these goals and new year's resolutions, right?

The Minimalists (Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemos) are a well known duo in the minimalism bubble. Their famous podcast surely is the first impression of minimalism for a lot of people. And for some, they might even be like »the face of minimalism«. To be honest, I had never really heard of them before 2020. Mostly, because I do not watch a lot of videos about minimalism myself...

Therefore, this is new territory for me, and I hope we can have a debate or discussion in the comments. Did you like this movie? Did you find it weird, like I did? What did you take away from it?

:-)
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#lessisnow #minimalism #joshuafieldsmilburn #ryannicodemus

[Antistylestyleclub]

Consume minimalism-content is just another form of consumerism, I could know because I am trying to recover from it :)

[nattyophelia]

I think anyone familiar with their first movie or podcast would watch the movie and be bored out of their mind. It’s repetitive of everything their podcast and movie already was. It would’ve been much more inspiring had it shared more people’s stories, showed some tricks or history about it, testimonials or something! So I agree it wasn’t great.

[Rebecca_christopher]

I find Joshua F-M to be extremely off-putting. He seems to think he is superior to everyone. If Ryan had his own podcast, I could see myself listening. He seems down to earth, easy to talk to, he can see different perspectives. But as long as Joshua is running the show, I can’t consume that content.

[marisaedgar-fox]

It was a repeat of their first movie, the first one was better. But they just repeat the same thing over and over, same wording, over and over, they haven’t had any original content in years. They are just trying to stay relevant and make money. For someone new to minimalism it could be helpful but just watch the first movie, no need to consume anything else from them.

[suzstancova]

I like you review. The thing that bothered me the most about this movie was that it was mostly about them and not about minimalism general.

[thatslifecaro]

the minimalists podcast is a giant ad for their books, movies and patreon!!!

[hoecksteenbv]

Hi there.. I think it’s brave of you to start a discussion about The Minimalists.. In the beginning, I liked their content, when I was absorbing a lot about the principles of minimalism.. But the active way of promoting for themselfs is so frustrating/annoying/tiring.. I do think it’s an american thing, almost to brag about yourself and to get out as much as possible.. I feel that with a lot of American people.. So that is perhaps also a cultural thing

[katjarozantseva]

Same! I've tried their podcast, but that very soon becomes repetitive. And quite mentoring. Also, I cannot relate to their stories. I'm not American, I've never get 100k a year (lol), I'm young adult female and immigrant... and so on.
Upd. A good point that they criticize ads and aggressively advertise themselves :)

[knitnkitten]

Canadian here. I can't get past the first 5 - mins of any of their podcasts. They are so puerile, superficial, egotistical, pedantic, and sexist. 🤷🏼‍♀️ So, yeah - your basic mainstream American media tripe. Thank you for this review & more global perspective🌿✨

[danielacheson]

Late to the party, but I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in the things that feel weird/off/disconcerting about The Minimalists. It feels like they've hardly progressed from where they started ten years ago. Books, tours, podcasts, and other media aside, I don't get the sense that their perspective or message has really evolved. As a result I find it increasingly less relevant to my own journey. At times on their podcast it seems that Ryan and/or their guest is held hostage to JFM's monologues, and so I often lose interest in the finishing an episode. I think it's important to remember that before they were The Minimalists, both Joshua and Ryan were salesmen--successful salesmen. Even though I think they genuinely believe their minimalist message, they definitely know how to market themselves.

[elizabethchurchill]

I agree 100%. It's definitely not a documentary, it's purely hype for their own highly monetized brand. Like you, I much prefer the many (free) personal stories about real people on their unique and individual journeys. I initially came to minimalism 15 years ago via the tiny house movement, and even in my beginning stages I found these guys tiresome and irrelevant. My very American form of debt was not credit card debt, but medical debt. In 2005 I lived in a state in the US where I wasn't eligible for health insurance because I have scoliosis, so when I was diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma I had to sell my house and all my belongings, as well as liquidate all my retirement funds and other life savings, to pay for treatment. I was in my 50s and left with nothing except debt. Minimalism and a tiny house were initially acts of necessity and desperation, the only way I could manage to survive. I mostly ignore "The Minimalists" and their ilk, but I'm still a bit bitter about the moralistic undertones they have around debt, and the way they dismiss it as nothing more than a form of greed and self-indulgence. Thanks for your always interesting YouTube channel!

[roma]

Yes, totally agree. This first one was ok, the second was totally garbage.

[katietaniguchi]

hi :)
american here - your summary on americans cracked me *up* with how accurate i felt it was. "credit card debt, coca-cola, and a.a." i lived my entire life in the us until i moved to tokyo 5 years ago at 28. i have such a different view of america from outside of it now.
i also don't do podcasts... it's refreshing to hear someone else doesn't either.
i tried watching their first movie a few years ago and didn't make it very far into it so have no interest in their latest one. but i am so glad i watched this review of it because i'll be watching the rest of your content throughout the day today. i'm in the last few weeks of my first pregnancy and it's brightened my day to find a new content creator to enjoy!
thank you for sharing your time and a portion of your life on youtube <3

[mrw]

Hi, I just seen this vlog in my feed, so I have just subscribed to your channel. I didn't enjoy the less is now documentary as much as I did the first one, and I did find alot of its content repetitive from the first. I got interested in minimalism through my great love of the philosophy of stoicism. I Look forward to your vlogs in the future. I hope you have a great week and Best wishes and stay safe and well to you and your family

[murielhecquet]

Their first movie was better in my memory because there were more different people explaining the concept of minimalism. I did not like their 2 nd movie which is just redundant and as you said the part when they play their role in the past seem a bit narcissic to me and on my opinion does not match with the idea that the minimalism represents.
But as a matter of fact, american culture is différent of european as well as asian, and it is so obvious when watching videos about the way each people express their vision of minimalism...
I am looking for other movies on the subject, would you please share the titles you made reference to ? (except Marie Kondo series..)
Thank you for your videos and minimalist style !

[Carl-encj]

I really appreciate how respectful and mild mannered this vid is.
Truth be told, I was just hoping to see other people call them douchebags (Personally, I think Ryan is a lot more smug than Joshua and I don't get why so many people see it as the other way around.)
But, I like what you said a lot more, your take on their brand is very well thought out and you were very clear with your thoughts on the matter. I really like what you have to say.

[zakitodepapitas]

I started reading about minimalism in 2012 (I think) and when I found their content it was very valuable to me. I listened to their podcast while going to work and I really liked their first documentary and I recommended it to lots of friends, it talks about their story (in less detail than this documentary) and other people search for happiness in minimalism, and I found it very inspiring.
I live in Chile and as a country we idolize and copy most of the american style kind of living, so I found that part very relatable of what I can see in my society.
However, when they started promoting their patreon they made their podcast chapters very short (so you had to pay to get the extended version) and I found that their content was no longer valuable to me. I still get their e-mails to see if they make a chapter that is for interest but I currently use them for recommendations of topics-authors to explore. I had high expectations for this documentary and I found to be redundant and not as well made as the first one.

[theesilverghost]

I watched the movie, and I felt so-so about it. It was a dramatic re-enactment of their Less is Now Tour -- which I also saw when they came to Pittsburgh.
From time to time, I will listen to snippets of their podcasts, but there are other creators with whom I connect more.

As for needing to have a particular amount of subscribers in order to voice YOUR opinion -- what the hell is that?

[greg]

it's generic because it's mass market. that's the compromise it takes to get on a global platform like netflix. matt d'avella is the director behind those guys who is never on camera there but speaks better than they do on his own youtube channel. I prefer him but he is still sort of superficial as americans are want to be . you might not get past that with him but it might be worth it. I don't delve much into their podcasts or anything like either.

[ThisIsNotMyPassword]

Their response to "we accumulated all this money and all this stuff but we're still not happy" is part of the reason why I stopped following them. Shouldn't that direct you to a more outward look of the American (consumerism) system rather than the individual self? And then to start making money off that notion... it's a SUPER privileged thing to be able to do and they don't seem to recognise that.
Also, thanks for making this video because I don't think enough people offer constructive criticism of them.