Cinema Plans to Erase Viewers’ Memories Through Hypnosis

Dutch cinema chain Pathé plans to attempt to erase viewers’ memories through hypnosis before a film screening. The experimental event aims to give participants the opportunity to watch familiar movies as though they were seeing them for the very first time.

The special “Pathé Rewind” screening will take place on November 9 at one of the chain’s cinemas in The Hague. Applications have already opened, and participants must select one of four films in a questionnaire: The Matrix, Se7en, La La Land, or Interstellar. Organizers will select just 30 participants aged over 18.

Participants will undergo hypnosis twice: first online and then directly at the cinema before watching the film. Even the organizers do not yet know whether the experiment will succeed. Through this initiative, Pathé hopes to find out whether it is possible to recreate the experience of watching a familiar movie for the first time.