Pathé plans to test whether hypnosis can help viewers experience a familiar film with something like the surprise of a first watch. The Dutch cinema chain’s Pathé REWIND experiment will involve 30 participants and take place at Pathé Buitenhof in The Hague on November 9.
Hypnosis professional Victor Kraemer, who has worked in the field for more than three decades, will lead the sessions. Each participant will first have an individual online session with Kraemer, followed by a group session at the cinema shortly before the screening.
Participants will watch one of four films proposed by Pathé: The Matrix, Se7en, La La Land or Interstellar. The company will choose the title based on the candidates’ preferences, then assess whether participants can follow the story without anticipating familiar scenes, plot twists or the ending. Pathé has not explained how it will measure the effects or judge the results.
The experiment addresses how knowing a film’s story can change repeat viewings: once viewers know what happens, surprises and twists may have less impact. Pathé’s Imke van Schaaijk said the project is intended to explore whether hypnosis could bring back the feeling of seeing a favorite film for the first time.
Participation is free, but the experiment is limited to 30 places. The application period closed on October 29. Pathé says the initiative is a test; it does not establish that memories can be erased at will.
Sources: elDiario.es.