The Institute

The Institute is a documentary film directed by Spencer McCall released on October 11, 2013. The 2020 television series Dispatches from Elsewhere is based on the documentary.

Synopsis
Official synopsis for The Institute from the official website:


 * Welcome to the Jejune Institute, a mind-bending San Francisco phenomenon where 10,000 people became "inducted" without ever quite realizing what they'd signed up for. Was it a cult? Was it an elaborate game? Told from the participants’ perspectives, the film looks over the precipice at an emergent new art form where real world and fictional narratives collide, creating unforeseen and often unsettling consequences. Fusing elements of counter-culture, new religious movements and street art, THE INSTITUTE invites viewers down the rabbit hole into a secret underground world teeming just beneath the surface of everyday life.