The Vance Institute

The Vance Institute is a Suspense filled psychological thriller/horror. It is heavy on having a disturbing atmosphere throughout the movie. There are definitely some themes and layers to this movie as well as the characters. The main theme is people dealing with their insecurities and inner fears and whether or not they will let others in an authority use those insecurities and fears to manipulate them.. I can almost see a metaphor for those that run this institute representing the government, the super wealthy and powerful . Those who are attending the institute are us, the people who are being manipulated. I could be reading to much into that as I am nit sure of the writers intention. This is a very dark film so don't expect a happy ending.

Overall I really enjoyed this film. It was well directed and acted and well written. I highly recomend.

(Full disclaimer: I did a few days on this shoot as a production assistant, so I may not be completely impartial. Having said that, I've watched - and occasionally been involved with - quite a few Hex Studios shoots over the years, and this definitely stands out as one of their best.)

The Vance Institute benefits hugely from a smart and efficient script, which does an excellent job balancing the characters and keeping up a quick pace. Little time is wasted, as the film effectively builds the tension during the opening before suddenly (and quite dramatically) escalating the stakes.

Some brilliant design work in the sets and costumes really sell the premise, and Tom Molloy's effectively sinister subversion of a "self help guru" dominates the film, leaving a sense of dread hanging over every scene. The strong cast are served well with a particularly effective ending, with quite a few unexpected conclusions to the character arcs.

As much as I enjoyed the film, I would definitely have preferred to see the film in full colour. Having been on set during filming, I know how striking the visuals were - particularly the red tracksuits - and I would have loved seeing that colour on screen. This could simply be a matter of personal preference, though, as the monochrome visuals are strikingly bold and lend the film a 'classic horror' feel.

If you enjoy psychological horror and dark subject matter, then this is definitely worth a watch.

This film makes good use of being in black and white to enhance the setting and plot. Gives shadows to hide in and makes everything feel so much more sinister.

The acting was really good, Each character was unique. (A lot of horror films, characters are using there for plot or tropes, these were not) It feels like a love letter to so many films and genre's while telling its own story.

I think this film did well to explore the human mind and dark minded people wanted to exploit that.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves cult horror films or modern takes like black mirror and maybe even something like squid game to an extent.

To quote the film, 'look at the results'

I think the results speak for themselves as I really enjoyed it.

To me this felt like a nice blend of The Stanford Experiment, Squid Game and fragments of A Field In England plus a little pinch of Dead Man's shoes.

An edgy psychological horror that used the black and white palatte properly to add shadows alluding to the dark world of the characters.

The set design was great with the cold uninviting hard edged Institute matching the militant titular Vance and his team.

I think the cinematography was very well done, perhaps a little too static at times, but I'm pleased it let the scenes unfold rather than force any dramatic tension.

I read another review that mentioned the static shots of the Institute being a bit too long, and I kind of agree with that, but besides that minor factor, The Vance Institute is a great twisted tale that has a great unnerving vibe.

Its a difficult film to describe. Its kind of a squid game meets saw, but focuses on psychological horror instead of out right violence.

The physical violence is mostly hidden away from view allowing you to imagine what's going on. In some respects this felt a little annoying at times, especially when the cut away was very jarring; but the story makes up for it.

The film is in black and white (mostly) and I think that helps illustrate the mental horrors going on.

I was completely engrossed in the film and the time flew by, leading to a rather unexpected ending.

My only real negative about the film would be the long pauses showing the outside of the building - presumably to show the time of the day. They often felt overly long.