The Institute

Name: The Institute
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Crime, Documentary
Released: October 11, 2013
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 55

2013

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Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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The Institute

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Movie Details & Credits

Argot Pictures | Release Date: October 11, 2013 | Not Rated

Summary: Welcome to the Jejune Institute, a mind-bending San Francisco phenomenon where 10,000 people became "inducted" without ever quite realizing what they'd signed up for. Was it a cult? Was it an elaborate game?

Director: Spencer McCall

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Mystery, Crime, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 92 min

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Critic Reviews

Alan Scherstuhl

Oct 8, 2013

Complaints that there's too little here about how the Jejune Institute was hatched or what it all may have meant matter little in the face of the one great thing The Institute does offer: a record of the mad invention of the game's masterminds. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

Oct 10, 2013

It’s compelling throughout, and profoundly moving at times, even when it rings false, which is often. It’s a divisive, shadowy conversation-starter of a movie that’s as much fun to talk and think about as it is to watch. Read full review

Inkoo Kang

Oct 10, 2013

Because The Institute is largely framed as if the viewer were a co-player in Jejune's game, the film is an experience that's fun and frustrating in equal measure. Read full review

John DeFore

Oct 21, 2013

The film will frustrate viewers who insist on knowing which interviewees are recounting real experiences and which are perpetuating fictions hatched by the game's creator, Jeff Hull. But mystery is part of the appeal. Read full review

David Lewis

Oct 3, 2013

A ludicrous, yet oddly engaging documentary. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

Oct 10, 2013

The Institute stumbles between documentary and exploratory simulation, at once confusing and pedantic. Read full review

Kalvin Henely

Oct 2, 2013

A lazily constructed documentary that doesn't hide first-time director Spencer McCall's admitted lack of understanding for his subject. Read full review

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craniac

Jul 16, 2014

Although this is a little uneven and not the tightest documentari I've seen, I found the subject matter so interesting that I stuck it out, and felt somewhat like the participants in the game by the time it was over--fascinated, and a little disappointed, but glad that I had participated.

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