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The Institute

"Is it a cult? Is it a game? Or is it a life-changing adventure..."

Thousands of participants in a San Francisco-based alternate reality game end up getting more than they bargained for. Told from the players’ perspectives, the film looks over the precipice at an emergent new art form where the real world and fictional narratives merge to create unforeseen and often unsettling consequences. Examining counter-culture, new religious movements and street art, this film takes the viewer on a journey into a secret underground world teeming just beneath the surface of everyday life.

Top Cast

  • Arye Bender

    Arye Bender

    Octavio Coleman Esq

  • Jeff Hull

    Jeff Hull

    Creator

  • Gordon McLaughlin

    Gordon McLaughlin

    Drybones

  • Daniel Shoup

    Daniel Shoup

    Kelvin Williams

Overview

Thousands of participants in a San Francisco-based alternate reality game end up getting more than they bargained for. Told from the players’ perspectives, the film looks over the precipice at an emergent new art form where the real world and fictional narratives merge to create unforeseen and often unsettling consequences. Examining counter-culture, new religious movements and street art, this film takes the viewer on a journey into a secret underground world teeming just beneath the surface of everyday life.

Rating

6.1 / 10
31 Reviews
0 Popular

Trailers & Clips

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In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.

We Live in Public

6.9 2009