The Institute

source: The Institute

Not sure what they hoped to gain from this movie. I'm surprised at how terrible it is considering the line-up. However, terrible it is, and I wouldn't recommend investing the time. James Franco should reconsider his decision to direct films.

Set in the 19th Century, a young woman checks herself into an asylum for respite as she is labels by her brother as 'too curious' and 'melancholy' she soon gets sucked into a strange way of life and eventually cult that exists there. I created an account solely to vent about this movie. That's your first clue... As an avid fan of all things Horror, Thriller, Dark and Creepy, I was really looking forward to this film... however I was quickly disappointed. The concept of this movie is truthfully a good one, and it could have been great. It was however, poorly executed, the script was lifeless, boring and lacked any kind of depth. I was left laughing at certain points where they quite clearly should have been 'shocking' or 'creepy' but the whole thing felt a lot like I was watching a High School drama performance. The acting was mediocre at best and even with the big star cameos, it left a lot to be desired. The film was full of continuity errors, and generally easily fixed issues which would have added something to the non-existent atmosphere the film created. For example the film is set in the 19th Century, yet in a scene where the female lead is shown topless, you can quite clearly see her bikini tan lines. I'm not just talking a little, I'm talking she's just come back from a 3 week vacation. The 'climactic' scene left me laughing. All in all, don't waste your time - unless your looking for a film to fall asleep to or have a good laugh at then it'll be perfect!!

Hammy acting from renowned actors you'd expect more of. It wasn't laudanum they were ingesting but copious amounts of lithium to numb the brain thus restraining the urge to burst out laughing at every cliched, hackneyed and redundant theme in the plot line. I hope I hammered that home.

A pittyful effort of look smart and surprising, comes out as a leading disorientation and regret. I genuinely believe, Franco did this movie just to be more around half naked women. It may also be a result of beting between two buddies. No story, no continuity, no acting, no screenplay, no music and no nothing. Costumes are nice though...

Please don't waste 1hr 30mins of your life on this!!!! I wanted to turn this film off after 30mins but my husband is the kind of person that when you start watching something he has to see it through no matter how bad it is!!! The story, acting and filming of this was terrible!!!, I can't believe some of these actors actually took part in this disaster. It was slow and boring as hell, don't do it people!!!

"Based on true events" is cliché to the point of being metaphorically criminal to use. The Rosewood Institute in Maryland, during the time period this film is placed, was filled with low IQ'd children and children with other mental disabilities. It was not filled with wealthy women with mental disabilities. So, whatever truth there is in this film, it is not about this particular hospital no matter what the opening credits show with actual newspaper clippings etc., I would have loved to have seen an actual film closer to what actually may have happened at such "hospitals", with the varying experimentations and the like, and some films in the past have attempted the feat but they either made it too sadistic or catered to a specific genre (such as Horror and/or Thriller) to where it just became nonsensical. Or, to the very least, perhaps even a film based on an institute where society basically throws people away and dumps them in a very poor environment; and in Maryland (and other places in the US), they did it to children. That would have been a film to watch. A film to disgust and anger people. I have no clue what this film is about. I've actually enjoyed some of the non-mainstream films that James Franco has put out these past few years but as I keep watching these 'experimental' films of his, I keep thinking that he just likes to hear himself talk. I am one of those who actually enjoyed his film "The Sound and the Fury". It wasn't great but it was good, in my opinion. This film: I have no idea the point of this film. Franco seems to be all about quantity these days. He reminds me of the early days of film where those in the silent era pushed out one film after another as if throwing money into a crowd. Of course, most those films were short and without substance. He's doing the same, it seems. I mean he's directed four films (in which he also stars in) this year alone. Contemporarily, he's like a B-film production company; the difference is: that's their actual living. So, what's Franco's point with these 'candy' films? Let's forget the poor technical faults of "The Institute" (lighting, decorum, sets etc.,) or the Quasimodo character, or the rip of the film "The Wicker Man" from 1973; and the excessive and unnecessary amount of nudity of almost every single female actress in this film (who happen to be clean shaven in 1890). Let's forget the poorly delivered lines, the writing, and the direction. Let's even forget about the accents going in and out etc., let's forget all of that. I just have one simple question: What the f--- is this film supposed to be about? Supposedly: woman enters asylum after tragedy, becomes brainwashed but remembers and seeks revenge and a way out! Which only happens in the last ten minutes of the film. See, it starts in 1893 when the actual asylum had just children in it (boys and girls, separated) but ends with it stating it happened in the 1930s. Really? Age restriction was removed in 1950. I'm not saying bad things didn't happen at Rosewood, bad unethical things did happen (and not just to the girls, but mainly the girls) but the story itself goes quite deeper than this film seems to portray it; this film is just trash.

The acting was inept, especially Franco. The writing was pathetic. The dialog was an affront to the ears. The plot was unbelievable from start to finish. The costumes were incoherent. The sets were dull. The photography was uninspired. The gore was sillier than the stuff you'd find at a child's Halloween party. The gratuitous nudity was... I don't know how you fail at gratuitous nudity, but this film found a way. Unlike Showgirls, Eyes Wide Shut, or The Phantom Menace, this movie does NOT have cult classic written anywhere on it.

The Institute: A Gothic Horror film set in 19th Century Maryland. A young woman (Allie Gallerani) enters the Rosewood Institute, suffering from stress/depression following her parent's deaths. What appears at first to be a gentle regime soon turns strange and she is subject to an increasingly bizarre psychiatric regime by Dr Cairn (James Franco). There is also a sinister surgeon who carries out experimental neurosurgery. Cults, Mind Control, a Marty Feldmanesque attendant, Ritual Sacrifice,The Institute brings both Get Out and A Cure For Wellness to mind. 7/10.

I am struggling to find the words to describe this movie. I have given it two stars because I didn't fall asleep watching it, so it must have had something to keep me awake - the lovely Allie Gallerani and other ladies in a state of undress - which was welcome eye candy. Anyway, with two directors and two writes one could expect a reasonable film to come out of the other end. At least something which cut together in a coherent and reasonably interesting way. To begin with, the visuals are like something from a very bad daytime movie on an obscure cable channel - more akin to 'Murder She Wrote' than a feature film with a reasonable budget. Now unless this is the market the directors were aiming for I can not understand why they did it - it belongs in the 1980s. Someone could have just smeared Vaseline on a filter and stuck it on a VHS camera to get the same effect. Either the directing or editing has gone awry, particularly at the start of the film. In the beginning there are shots of one person while another person is speaking - totally illogical and just confuses the viewer. The actors seem to 'stall' at the end of each scene - as if it has been cut just a bit too late. I am sure many of the actors can act, but this really didn't come through for many of the characters at the beginning of the film, although this did improve somewhat later on. And this is the weird thing. Towards the end the film becomes quite watchable (after we are treated to the aforementioned eye candy) - so why is the beginning SO bad? Anyway, if you can watch it for free and have nothing better to watch or do then go ahead - it will be an experience. Otherwise I really wouldn't bother.