The Institute

An seemingly normal office building in San Francisco held a secret; a strange office for something called The Jejune Institute.

At first glance, The Jejune Institute appears to be a cult. But some of their claims seemed outlandish even by cult standards -- a machine that records your memories to a VHS tape? A method for talking to dolphins? Huh? Those looking for a strange adventure would visit The Jejune Institute, only to be presented with a trippy presentation, a scavenger hunt, etc.

Let me assure you that this film does document many real events. Yes, people really did visit a payphone and dance. Yes, there really was a protest at Union Square. Yes, the Jejune Institute was a real place in a real office building.

I can tell you all of this for certain because I participated in The Jejune Institute and the so-called "Games of Nonchalance" that are documented in this film. I suppose I can't review a film fairly as someone who is documented in it, even if only in the background. But the film is not the game.

Ultimately, with The Institute there's a moment during the film where you star to question whether what you're seeing is real, is part of the game, or is fictionalized for the purpose of the film. I'm sure that moment will be different for everyone.

Even as someone who played Games of Nonchalance in its entirety, I'm not sure I can decipher fact from fiction with 100% accuracy. Watching The Institute for the first time felt a lot like watching Exit Through The Gift Shop, where it's unclear how much of what the camera is feeding you is true and how much the director is winking and smiling.

There's no question in my mind that this was the right decision for telling the story of the Games of Nonchalance. An alternate reality game messes with your head; for a film to capture such a game, it must do the same.

NOT !

I have no idea what I just saw exactly, but I was glued to the screen the whole time. Should there be some definitive resolution to art? This was a unique viewing experience. I give it a high score. Why? No idea, but that seems like the right thing to do for some reason. Maybe somebody else will get it and then explain what in heck just happened.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of stuff to wrack your brain on. Human psychology, belief, art, what kind of life are we living, would I participate in such a thing? Is modern society missing something like this? Should we ask for more? What kinds of "stone soup" have we created in the past, and is that a bad thing to do or a good thing...

Too many chefs... at least bring ingredients !

Is the world we see around us reality or is it a series of layered perceptions? Who really runs the show and what is it all about. In The Institute, the viewer is taken as a few chosen ones are taken on a riddled filled adventure full of twist and turns. They are lead on a wild goose chase and their perceptions changed as the secrets of a whole unseen underworld is presented in front of them. This fictional narrative blends in true settings to where the lines between fiction and reality blur. The journey takes you in and out all type of locations, a busy street, a serene park, and the final resting place for some bookish type. The end is at a bringing together of these adventurous souls. I saw this film as part of the Atlanta Film Festival

Imagine if the Darhma Initiative from the TV series LOST was real...

Aren't you hooked right there? Well, I think that's how I felt watching The Institute. Hard to believe that this actually happened.

Fascinating and thought provoking. Ultimately it does make you think that modern life has hollowed out existence to the point where creating an all-consuming "game" would be the thing that sparks people back to reality.

And like the other reviewer commented, what is reality these days?

Honestly I was pulled in by the deliciously beautiful artwork. But the trailer had me about 10 seconds in, when I knew I needed to watch this to find out what the heck this is all about.

I supposed it would be nice if the ultimate objective of all this was really to create a better world, but maybe just giving people a little inspiration to be adventurous is doing just that.

When I rented the movie this morning it had just become available on iTunes and now it's up to like the top 10 in the Documentaries section, which is pretty amazing.

Maybe the game is still afoot? Maybe the Jejune Institute really is still out there pushing people's buttons.

A mystery wrapped in an enigma shrouded in subterfuge.

Gamers out there might want to put down their joysticks for 90 minutes and snack on this absurdly fun real-life game. Although apparently the people in this experiment did not like to think of it as a "game."

And I guess they are right -- just as in LOST, if you experienced it, then I suppose to some degree it is "real."

There have been many attempts to do a straight up documentary about the NSA's Mind Control program, but it's been shot down every time it gets going. Someone in the govt gets wind of it and then before it even gets off the ground, the project is terminated.

This seems to take ALL of the aspects of what Targeted Individuals experience-- Electronic Harassment, gang stalking, EEG Cloning with supercomputers that send back other negative cloned emotions from other individuals via electromagnetic microwaves. In order to map a person's electromagnetic signature, you have to have them in one spot for a good while to capture their unique signal. That's why most TI's are picked up at low income apartment buildings... they clone them there, through walls, then once they have the signature signal... they're tagged for life. I'm surprised this project got this far... even though they're turning some of the story into fiction, by making it look like a game. It should be interesting to see what other projects come out, now that this has been released.