The Conspiracy (2012)

"The Conspiracy" is a fictional documentary that plays out like a found- footage soliloquy. The film comes from Christopher McBride who wrote and directed. It stars Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Ian Anderson, Peter Apostolopoulos and is quite frankly the most brilliant found-footage styled film to come out in a long while. The story follows two friends as they document their attempts to document a conspiracy theorist. Soon they become a deeper part of the documentary than they intended as things begin to get a little more real than they previously believed. Soon an ancient plot to control and dictate world societies by a super secret society is revealed.

The story in "The Conspiracy" was a pretty captivating conspiracy theory that flowed logically and seamlessly. The use of actual known prevailing conspiracies, that run rampant on the net along with one of the darkest known cults of human history, amped up the commanding plot. The style in which "The Conspiracy" was shot played out like a true documentary with softer moments of commentary and reflections from the characters, this created a more emotional connectivity for me that sometimes is lost in found footage films and actual documentaries. The fact that this film plays out as a believable documentary with a convincing conspiracy theory, and does so with very little flaw, is a testament to what can be achieved with the subgenre if care and consideration is taken into account. I honestly believe the conspiracy exposed within this film-even though I know it is a fictional film-it hit all my conspiracy theory nightmare sweet spots!

The drama and suspense is the man drive that moves this film forward, relying totally on the acting and camera tricks to create the intense melodrama from start to finish. It works great in "The Conspiracy". The dialog flowed effortlessly and came off genuine. It didn't feel really forced or over scripted. The main star is the actual conspiracy itself. It is a major player in the real world online conversations and framed by one of the most interesting and aloof cults that ever existed. The Mithraic cult of ancient Rome. You can (not that I have entertained such notions-yet) literally red-line the connection between events, religious backgrounds of people of power, Mithra origin story and cult beliefs to the point of paranoia. It was done in the film with eerie, believable implementation. I left the film with just a bit more fear and paranoia about the world around me, even questioning the truth of conspiracies as well as the truth presented to me by educational tools offered in our society.

"The Conspiracy" is a true horror story but if gore and standard creep affair is your thing then this film may leave you feeling a bit empty. However if you are a fan of any type of horror, and enjoy being taken on a thrill ride through story-regardless of the amount of blood splatter or grue-then "The Conspiracy" will deliver 100%. The clever ways the film is shot using innovative camera tricks in ways that haven't yet been over indulged in the found footage subgenre add the chilling suspense. The film really does prove that there are still some pretty stellar stories left to be told and found footage is still a viable means to tell those stories.