World of the Bizarre

Film company to try hypnotizing people into forgetting classic films

By T.K. Randall
November 2, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) The idea of selectively erasing memories has been around for decades and has featured in popular films such as Total Recall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

But could something like this actually be achieved in real life ?

Keen to find out, French film company Pathe is conducting an experiment to see if hypnosis can be used to make people forget a movie they've seen so that they can get the experience of watching it again for the first time.

The peculiar stunt, known as Pathe Rewind, will elicit the services of hypnotist Victor Kraemer.The films that will be shown as part of the experiment are The Matrix, Se7en, La La Land and Interstellar.

Pathe has emphasized that there is no guarantee that the hypnosis will actually work and even notes that it "accepts no liability for the outcome, the effect, or any other consequences of the hypnosis sessions."

Ultimately, the effectiveness of this type of experiment will likely come down to the individual participants.

Even if some of them do forget the movies, though, it seems very unlikely that hypnosis could ever be used as a reliable method to achieve this type of selective amnesia en masse.

Source: IGN.com

Tags: Movie, Hypnosis