Plot Summary: While creating a documentary about a conspiracy theorist, who mysteriously disappears, two filmmakers decide to investigate whether he was on to something.
Review: I suppose we could lump this under the found-footage category since I've never liked the usage of "mockumentary," and the comedic context that accompanies that label, when referring to non-comedic genres. However, this is still very much a fake documentary in presentation, with certain aspects presented as if an audience is viewing it, while other moments are intended to be cut footage that only the real audience (you and I) can see...if that makes sense. Another thing to consider is various portions of the story are completely fictional while other plot lines discussed are based in truth with still other plot lines are based on speculation. In other words, a film like "Paranormal Activity" is fiction from start to finish, but this film incorporates real events sporadically. I just want to point this fact out so people can distinguish that clips like the first President Bush talking about the new world order are, in fact, real. Okay, so I'm rambling already before I've even touched on the film. I did like this film quite a bit, but it's certainly flawed and kind of loses its focus along the way. As someone who does not trust my government (or any country's government for that matter), I see more truth than fiction in the film which I would have preferred they played up. To tell you the truth, I don't know if the makers had a clear sense of the message they were trying to convey. They definitely weren't trying to make conspiracy theorists look bad, but the mixture of truth with fiction dilutes any kind of warning that the events depicted could be real. I wonder if perhaps they were afraid they'd have a defamation lawsuit against them, although, I don't see how it could be considered libel when political and corporate figures should be ripe for satirical purposes. And, well, they're mostly scum anyway so fuck them.
There's actually not a lot to the story as they probably were trying to not to veer off into endless tangents. Basically, two filmmakers, Aaron and Jim, stumble upon this guy they've nicknamed Terrence G. Terrence is the cliched kind of guy the media tries to portray as your typical conspiracy nutcase as he roams around with newspaper clippings and a megaphone screaming at the sheep public. When trying to figure out what makes him tick and what his accumulation of knowledge means, Terrence suddenly disappears and his apartment is ransacked. Deciding to pick up where Terrence left off, and to bring more closure to their documentary, Aaron and Jim piece together the information. Aaron slowly becomes more obsessed as he painstakingly looks into the patterns Terrence was seeing. Just when Jim thinks Aaron has fallen too deep into the rabbit hole, Aaron realizes all the major wars in the world have started shortly after meetings with a shady group called the Tarsus Club. The two guys, along with their unnamed camera crew, make a connection with a guy named Mark, the only person who ever publicly wrote about the Tarsus Club; Mark's only caveat to a meeting was that the two men remove any mention of the Tarsus Club they have posted.
After speaking a few times with Mark, Aaron and Jim realize the Tarsus Club is a secret society pulling the strings of most of the world's major players...even implying they invented the handshake originally. As this goes on, the two guys realize they're starting to get in over their heads with a black SUV shadowing their movements and Aaron notices the same suspicious man that had tailed Terrence is following him. Somewhat going against their better judgement, since Jim had a newborn at home, the two decide they want to take this documentary all the way and infiltrate a Tarsus Club meeting with help from Mark. Through manipulation, armed with cameras in their ties, and with assistance of one of the groundskeepers, Jim and Aaron manage to sneak into the meeting which starts off as nothing more than old men rubbing elbows. Later on, however, the group prepares for a ceremonial sacrifice they perform dubbed "the running of the bull." New initiates are asked to come forward, which Jim and Aaron are pretending to be, as they go through a preparation process to receive a mask representing their status as a "raven;" the film implies there's a hierarchy of animal masks with lion being on top. Jim goes ahead first and is eventually confronted by a man, seemingly overseeing the ceremony, who corners Jim in a room with his wife and newborn. At the same exact moment, Aaron goes through his initiation, but he is wary as he saw Mark unexpectedly show up to the meeting. Instead of a raven mask, Aaron finds he was given the mask of the bull, thus, signifying he is the sacrifice for the ritual. Aaron then notices the crowd of Tarsus members running after him armed with ceremonial daggers. Managing to escape momentarily, Aaron retreats back to the fallback position he and Jim planned should anything go wrong; this was an old shack on the outskirts of the forest near the Tarsus Club. Seeing Jim inside, Aaron approaches when he notices Tarsus members waiting inside who attack immediately. Aaron is stabbed repeatedly until he dies, but we see someone editing this footage out of the documentary. Jim is then forced to lie that Aaron was so traumatized by the incident that he disappeared rather than being murdered. We also see a bunch of Tarsus Club flunkies rattling on about how the group is not nefarious and that they just want to make the world better...through a one world government.
I do want to clear up a few things regarding the ending that people seem confused on. Jim was not always a member of Tarsus. He was obviously controlled and probably had his family threatened in order to betray Aaron. His skepticism at the beginning was simply how most everyday people would react to someone claiming they see a pattern in newspaper clippings. Also, Mark clearly set them up and his piece about the Tarsus Club is meant to be the trap for anyone digging too deep. This is why he was mostly concerned with controlling the fact that all knowledge of Tarsus be reduced to his fake article so that anyone searching will meet him as a gatekeeper. Not sure why these plot lines weren't apparent to everyone, but I want to throw it out there so there's no confusion.
In a lot of ways, the conspiracies themselves were streamlined for casual viewers with little detail expressed to why they were all connected; although, saying every conspiracy ever is connected to one another is a huge stretch. They do throw in a few poignant facts that I hope will get people to take a second look at many staged incidents in history, along with nearly endless government lying, but I think this movie will actually cement to many that your crazy to think this way. It's kind of funny really, because most people ignore that bullshit official stories are typically a conspiracy theory unto themselves. If you consider that fact, your next logical thought would be "well do I trust the version from the guy screaming on the street or my government?" Your typical person usually picks the government, but I don't understand why. The government is like that abusive husband that's always saying "sorry, that was the last time" then that same night is beating your ass again. I don't know why people find it so hard to accept they would lie about big events when they are constantly lying about inconsequential events. Take it from Hitler's propaganda: if you tell a big enough lie, and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. Alas, normal people keep assuming those individuals with absolute power, influence, and money would, for some reason, be bound by the same moral code. The movie tries to highlight these notions, but it is mostly a retelling of a guy named Alex Jones infiltrating a place called Bohemian Grove that has their own "mock" human sacrifice. You can look into that incident and its parallels to this film if you feel so inclined. My only thing about Bohemian Grove is that the people that attend it are not the people running the show. It's probably more of a recruitment process where it lightly introduces prospective people to the weirder aspects of the NWO flunkies. Looks as though I'm back to rambling, and I said I wouldn't get serious on this blog!
Overall, the film is entertaining and definitely serves as an intriguing thriller. I don't think you need to know a damn thing about conspiracy theories nor believe in a single one to still be able to sit back and enjoy the story. You are given a taste of the real information perhaps in an effort to force the viewer to seek out the rest of the information on their own. At the same time, the film doesn't completely humor the conspiracies in the fact that it doesn't say anything was real and simply shows a made up organization that is lurking behind the curtain. In other words, the makers don't exactly take sides on the debate and focus on their own story instead of alienating anyone. The acting is also decent from guys that were essentially playing themselves. I'd say give this one a shot, now that it has been promoted on Netflix streaming, but don't expect it to blow your mind away with revelations you never thought possible.
Notable Moment: When Aaron emerges as the bull. I suppose it was a bit predictable, but you could almost feel his fear when he looked in the mirror and saw what mask had been given to him.
Final Rating: 6/10
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