Lights! Camera! Introspection!
What is Rude Awakening?
Rude Awakening is a cinematic sucker punch masquerading as a documentary about self-discovery. You know, those innocent little questions like “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”—the ones that sound poetic until they bulldoze your carefully curated life. Part reality, part fiction, and part existential comedy, this hybrid documentary blends raw, unscripted interviews with a fictional narrative so immersive you might forget it’s your own chaos being mirrored on screen.
“This is the story of what actually happens when you dare to turn inward”
The bad news?
It’s not all angels, unicorns, and incense. From that first spark of awakening to the full-scale demolition of your identity, this is the wild ride your guru forgot to mention.
The good news?
On the other side of this spiritual shit show lies something rare: real freedom—and a bone-deep knowing of who you truly are.
Follow filmmaker Jonathan on a quest that’s part pilgrimage, part midlife crisis, and part global soul scavenger hunt. Along the way, he interviews six fellow travelers navigating their own inner earthquakes—and strikes up candid conversations with strangers, all to see if there’s a thread that ties our unraveling lives together.
The Interviews
We interviewed 6 people about their raw and personal journey into awakening and self-discovery:
Geoffrey Hoppe - United States. Channeler of Adamus Saint Germain and founder of the Crimson Circle.
Marisa Calvi - Australia. Channeler.
Iiro Riihimaki - Finland. Ex-physicist. Free man.
Hisako Hino - Japan. Mother of two. Translator.
Andrew (Amar) - United States. Astrologer and YouTube personality..
Jean Tinder - United States. Mother of three and content manager of the Crimson Circle.
Street Interviews - Across the Netherlands, Sydney, and the United States.
With personal insights and fictional re-enactments from filmmaker:
Jonathan Kray - Netherlands.
Where can I watch it?
Rude Awakening is currently being send into festivals. Watch this space for the latest viewings.
The documentary will also be available for rent and buy beginning of 2026.
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About the production
A seven-year spiritual odyssey… with a camera crew.
The journey of Rude Awakening began, fittingly, in paradise—at a spiritual workshop on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2016. Filmmaker Jonathan Kray and producer Sandra Roggermann were capturing behind-the-scenes interviews when something strange happened: every participant—regardless of age, background, or beard length—was describing eerily similar experiences of awakening.
By 2017, Jonathan and Sandra were back in Hawaii, cameras rolling, chasing the deeper story. The two-person team quickly realized this wasn’t just a feel-good montage about meditation or unicorn breathwork—it was something much bigger. Something messier. Something with existential teeth. So they ditched the small setup and began building a bolder, more cinematic vision.
To match the scale of the subject matter, the team enlisted Dutch cinematographer Ties Versteegh NSC, whose visual flair gave the film the polished edge it needed to go toe-to-toe with the big players on streaming platforms.
Production sprawled across continents—Amsterdam, Sydney, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Colorado, Maastricht, Tokyo, and back to Hawaii. At its core: six brave souls sharing the raw truth of their inner journeys. The film weaves their interviews with street encounters and a fictional protagonist stumbling through his own spiritual chaos—loosely based on Jonathan himself. Because if you’re going to fall apart on camera, you might as well do it with cinematic flair.
Then came March 2020.
Just two days into the final 8-day shoot—complete with a Back to the Future DeLorean and other ambitious set pieces—Rude Awakening got a plot twist of its own: COVID-19. Production slammed to a halt. What was supposed to be a short delay turned into a two-year standstill. Budgets evaporated. Sanity frayed. The dream nearly flatlined.
But, in true hero’s journey fashion, the team caught one final lifeline in 2023: enough funding to finish the film. They returned to the editing bay with a new perspective—and a lot less ego.
In March 2023, Rude Awakening had a soft, closed test release to over 100,000 spiritually curious viewers. The feedback was clear: simplify the complex themes, tighten the runtime, and lose the repetition. So they did. A new voiceover was written and recorded—lighter, more grounded, and reflecting Jonathan’s personal experience. It also reframed the story to meet people where they are, especially those navigating the messy intersection of awakening and mental health. The film’s focus shifted from niche spiritualism to something much broader—and far more human.
The result? A leaner 93-minute film that lands with both cinematic impact and human relatability.
Now complete, Rude Awakening is ready for its next chapter. The team is currently seeking international representation for distribution, marketing, and sales—with plans to premiere at global film festivals, selected theaters, and streaming platforms in 2025.
