Went in not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised.Acting was quite good and believableOne of the better mocumentries

Much of this documentary-style horror is filmed in flashback. The recreation of the world in 1976 is supremely handled, from the grainy filmic imagery to the fashions of the day to the laboratory equipment being used.This is as near as what would actually happen should someone be tested for some kind of demonic possession. When someone becomes too uncontrollable and is seen to exhibit such power, governments would have to gain authority over events. And with human beings what they are, corruption is never far away.Attempting to harness her power for political gain, Judith is told to reveal secrets held by rival governments, especially the Russians, who had previously exploited a telekinetic sensitive of their own.Beneath all the testing, the electro-convulsive therapy, the bullying, the attempts at control, is the possessed person. Judith was of no concern to her 'captors', and for that, the demon inside her gains a kind of empathy with the audience. You want it to emerge and punish the narrow-minded officials. Only a handful of the original scientists (mainly head man Henry West played by William Mapother) exhibit any kind of sympathy, understanding – even acknowledgement – of the punishment being meted out. And yet as the story reveals, the creature is in control the whole time, influencing what her captors say and do.The acting throughout is excellent. Although 'The Atticus Institute is as convincing a depiction of supernatural events in the hands of officials as I've ever seen, this results in a lack of pace and spectacle – but that's fine when the results are this good. The ending is low-key, the subtle, enigmatic nature of events in-keeping with the rest of the film. I found this thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, although the excellent Rya Kihlstedt (as Judith) was reduced to convulsing and shrieking throughout the dramatic middle portions of the story, which robbed us of her meticulous attention to shuddering and twitching detail which made the earlier elements of her possession so effective.

The initial tableau: The (fictional) Atticus Institute was founded in the early 1970s to study exceptional persons who might have ESP abilities: telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, for instance. They find hundreds of subjects, find a few weak espers, and get conned at least once. Then they meet Judith Winstead.Delineation of conflicts: West's children still care about their distant father, and are discouraged when the Institute clearly has a bad effect on him. The Institute staff have great talent, but dealing with an incredibly bad-tempered test subject is quite a challenge. As they continue to observe Judith, it becomes clear that they are dealing with something besides ESP. Just what is it? They call in an expert from the DIA (defence intelligence agency), Robert Koepp. His presence seems to make it much worse. Will Judith's ability be diagnosed correctly? If so, what will the DIA (and DOD) decide to do with it during the Cold War?Resolution: The attempts of 1970s science to deal with the supernatural were worth a watch.Proceeded in reportorial style. The motivations were reasonably well mapped out, except for the starting points. How things would proceed once the military took control made sense, but how Judith came to the early state (when she first entered the Institute) was still murky to me at the end.

It presents an interesting direction for possession subgenre with authentic documentary flair. The film portrayal of titular institution goes beyond average found footage gimmick, its understanding of the presentation makes it as though audience is watching real documentary from science channel. However, parts of the film aren't as consistently polished and these issues stutter the pace and occasionally derail the tension it has built.Dr. Henry West (William Mapother) runs a small lab to research individuals said to have paranormal abilities. After a few failed endeavors, a woman named Judith Winstead (Rya Kihlstedt) is admitted to his lab. He and his colleagues have seen anything and anything like her, and the tests progress so sinisterly that eventually military is involved. Characters are pretty convincing at their roles, the use of exclusive camera footages without first hand interaction create credible effect.The Atticus Institute offers several unnerving thrills, although the production has few technical flaws. Half of the movie is witnesses' interviews, which sets up more psychological and scientific approach. At its best the film delivers timely bizarre occurrences that are effectively chilling. However, it doesn't pay off every time. These interviews can be tedious and predictable, especially since their testimonies alone aren't sufficient to produce tension.At midway point it feels that characters are overly narrating, especially since the scenes they mention are only partially captured. The film also describes events with clips and still images, they are short and some even look like slideshows. While this enhances its pseudo-documentary feel, its production is shabby. Furthermore, there are fumbles on editing as well as audio clarity. These issues could've been just minor hiccups, yet they are persistent enough to hamper the movie.The Atticus Institute has intriguing concepts, its clever style almost overcomes the genre familiarities, but ultimately the production isn't adequate enough to fully convey the suspense.