Institute History
Description
Richard (Thomas Jane), Ron (Jeremy Piven), Tim (Christian McKay), and Jonathan (Rob Lowe) are friends from college who gather for a weekend each year to celebrate their friendship and catch up with each other. On the surface, they look like other men going through life: they have careers and families and responsibilities. But as with many people, there is more to them than meets the eye. As the weekend progresses, they go down the rabbit hole of excess. Fueled by sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, their bacchanalian reunion drives them to an unexpected place where they are forced to confront themselves and the choices they’ve made.
Writer/director Mark Pellington returns to the Sundance Film Festival with a riveting and emotionally raw story that puts the modern male psyche under the knife, opening it up and exposing it for what it is. The four leads deliver crackling performances as they dig deeply within themselves to portray painfully honest characters. What emerges is a visually dazzling, sonically charged exploration of men on the brink of enlightenment . . . whether they want it or not.