The Conspiracy
Starring: Aaron Poole, Jim Gilbert, Alan C. Peterson
Director: Christopher MacBride
Rating: 3.5/5
The Conspiracy is a movie that has been playing really well on the festival circuit this year, and it is now heading to the big screen.
The movie marks the feature-film directorial debut of Christopher MacBride, and he really has delivered a tense and gripping film.
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let the madness speak for itself.
But he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking pair is prepared to walk away the other becomes obsessed. This shouldn't be possible. People do not just disappear... unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken?
So begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a high-powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
Inspired by real conspiracy theories and secret organisations, The Conspiracy is more than just entertainment. It is a sharp, topical commentary of a world in which the most important question is not 'What happened?' but 'Who is telling us?'
The Conspiracy is another found-footage film, but it is one of the most tense since we were treated to The Blair Witch Project: the movie that did really kick off the start of the found-footage film.
This movie is shot like a documentary and really does have that documentary feel to it - that is perhaps what makes the film so tense as it just feels so real.
But this is a clever piece of fiction that delves into the very interesting area of conspiracy theories. The subject matter alone is enough to get you thinking and keep you interested, but through in the eerie feel and stifling tension, and you have a clever film.
The Conspiracy is not without its flaws as there is some quite clunk dialogue and the flow of the film doesn't quite work from time to time. However, there is a real menace to this movie and director MacBride has done a really good job of notching up the fear.
The Conspiracy is out now