Film Company Wants to Hypnotize People So They Can Watch Classic Movies for the First Time Again

French film production and distribution company Pathé is performing an experiment to see if it can wipe classic movies from people’s minds and let them experience them afresh.

Pathé is working in collaboration with hypnotist Victor Kraemer to mind wipe 30 movie buffs to see if they can relive that first viewing. The event is called Pathé Rewind.

Registration for the event is now closed, but applicants were chosen based on film preferences, personal motivation, availability and consent to take part in the promotion. Selected participants will be invited to a one-to-one online session with hypnotist Victor Kraemer.

Just before the film screening, participants will once again be put under hypnosis by Victor Kraemer, after which the selected film will be shown on the big screen. Three movies are being considered — The Matrix, Se7en, La La Land and Interstellar — and one will be chosen based on which has the most familiarity to the chosen 30.

What’s in the box? Are we living in a simulation? What happens when you go really far away? Can Ryan Gosling sing? Imagine not knowing the answers to these questions.

Pathé said there is no guarantee any of this will work, of course, but it’ll be interesting to see the outcome. From a distance. I don’t want to be memory wiped, thank you. Especially when you consider the following disclaimer: “Pathé accepts no liability for the outcome, the effect, or any other consequences of the hypnosis sessions.

“Through this experiment, Pathé is investigating whether hypnosis can contribute to a new cinema experience,” the disclaimer continued. “Pathé makes no claims regarding the effectiveness of hypnosis as a method.”

The cinema experiment will take place on Monday, November 9 at Pathé Buitenhof in The Hague. Babe, fancy a date to The Hague to get memory-holed?

Check out the IGN list of the top 25 movies of all time and let us know which ones you’d like to experience for the first time again. If seeing The Matrix and Interstellar up there got your blood pumping, we also have a list of the best sci-fi films of all time.