Tree-hugging has a bad image. You make a new friend (your chosen tree), you get close to nature (your new friend’s habitat), and then you connect. Proponents of this activity – also known as “hippies” – have a reputation for excusing themselves from reality to find happiness and self-fulfillment. But does it work? Three Miles North of Molkom aims to find out.

The film follows a group of seven individuals who have met for the first time at Ängsbacka – an annual festival that takes place deep in the forests of Sweden, about three miles north of the town of Molkom. The festival is described as “an awakening to who or what is actually experiencing this moment”, and the group is a microcosm of the backpackers, celebrities and freethinkers for whom Ängsbacka provides an intense programme of new age therapies including firewalking, Shamanism and tantric exercise.

During the group’s regular “sharing circles”, personalities are freely discussed, not least by Nick – a young Australian rugby coach who is entirely unprepared for the intensity of the sessions and festivalgoers. For example, fellow group member and emotional giant Siddharta (this may not be his real name) talks openly of his need for a “goddess”. Nick’s initial ridicule rapidly turns to disappointment as he realises he’s stuck with these people for a week.

At this point it would be easy for both Nick and the filmmakers to mock the bizarre therapies these people cling to. Instead, co-directors Robert Cannan and Corinna Villari-McFarlane unflinchingly record the group exposing themselves to their insecurities, to reality and to the occasional fast-moving guru. Although there are some very funny moments, it’s hard to ignore the complete openness of the participants, and that leaves you feeling somehow refreshed. Whether that’s because you’ve found your chosen tree, or are glad you don’t have to, is up to you.