The Conspiracy (Movie Review)

The Conspiracy is a documentary style found footage type film written and directed by newcomer Christopher MacBride and starring Aaron Poole  from 2012’s The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh and James Gilbert  of Saw IV (2007). Released on September 20th at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas The Conspiracy has received rave reviews from many different publications and fans alike.

Still from The Conspiracy
Still from The Conspiracy

The Film is about two filmmakers named Aaron and Jim that receive a link that leads them to a Conspiracy Theorist named Terrance G. who opens up their eyes to what is possibly going on in the world. They decide to make a documentary following this guy and all is going well until he tells them that he thinks he is being followed, and not much longer after this Terrance goes missing. Upon investigating his disappearance they find that his entire apartment is being cleared out and stripped of all of the evidence he had on the conspiracy. Aaron takes some of the evidence and recreates what he can back at his home on his wall. In the process Aaron’s house is broken into which makes it all too real to him so he moves in with Jim much to the chagrin of Jim’s family because Aaron has become obsessed.

Still from The Conspiracy
Still from The Conspiracy

After Aaron does a little more digging he comes upon a secret society called the Taursus club which is suppose to be responsible for huge events that happen right after each of their secret meetings.  They find a man who knows information about the group and he tells them what he can; which is that the group worships the God Mithras and during their secret get togethers they all sacrifice a bull while in costume.  After their meeting Aaron finds a way to get into one of the Taursus secret meetings and talks Jim into going with him.  They bring hidden cameras and document what they see there and this is when everything goes terribly wrong.  The first half of the film plays out like Zeitgeist (2007) and has a very real feel to it so much so that the audience forgets they are watching a fictional film because the subject matter is so real. During this it builds a lot of tension and sets up the second half very well so the viewers really feel like they are in it.

Still from The Conspiracy
Still from The Conspiracy

The second half of The Conspiracy is when the film really starts to feel truly terrifying. Similar films like The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Paranormal Activity (2009) were so effective because they made their audience believe that what was happening on the screen really happened in reality and viewers need to continuously remind themselves that The Conspiracy  is just fiction.  This is a great film for building tension and keeping it tight so that the audience never feels relaxed or safe. It creates a feeling that is uncomfortable, a feeling that people do not like to deal with, doubt. Doubt is the basis of fear and this film gets right to that part of its audience making them fell uneasy in their own world. In an oversaturated genre The Conspiracy is one of the best found footage movies out there.  CrypticRock gives The Conspiracy 5 out of 5 stars.

XLRATOR MEDIA
XLRATOR MEDIA

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