The Atticus Institute
| The Atticus Institute | |
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| Directed by | Chris Sparling |
| Produced by | Peter Safran |
| Screenplay by | Chris Sparling |
| Story by | Chris Sparling |
| Starring |
William Mapother Rya Kihlstedt John Rubinstein |
| Cinematography | Alex Vendler |
| Edited by | Sam Bauer |
| Distributed by | SND Groupe M6 |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Atticus Institute is a 2015 American independent found-footage horror film written and directed by Chris Sparling about a paranormal research institute, which becomes home to the only U.S. government confirmed case of possession.
The story of the film is presented in documentary format, with footage of the events punctuated by interviews with people related to them.
In the early 1970s, Dr. Henry West (William Mapother) founds the Atticus Institute in rural Pennsylvania, hoping to find evidence that proves supernatural abilities such as ESP are real. Despite the best work of West and his aides, however, every subject that comes to the institute seeming to display such abilities are ultimately proven to be frauds. The team is demoralized in their work by the time Judith Winstead (Rya Kihlstedt) is brought to the institute by her sister Margaret, who is troubled by her disturbing behavior. Judith immediately proves to be a different case than the previous subjects, passing all the tests with incredible proficiency and leaving no doubt that her abilities are genuine. Her behavior remains erratic, however, and many of West's staff become uncomfortable with her, even while their boss's fascination with her increases. With the usual tests proving to be no challenge for Judith's incredible power, the team gradually introduces new tests that show her to possess even greater abilities than first imagined.
Judith's behavior grows more unstable as her abilities evolve, disturbing West's staff. Bizarre events begin to happen to the aides and their families outside of the institute, which they suspect Judith is somehow influencing, and many of them resign from their positions to escape from her. As the situation escalates, the team seeks help from the United States military; under the influence of military advisors, they conduct new tests that lead to Judith manifesting new abilities such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis. One day, Judith experiences a violent reaction to a spectral photography experiment, and when the images are checked, a cloud-like entity is observed temporarily leaving Judith's body during her convulsions. This leads the team to realize that Judith's powers are the result of demonic possession.
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