JEANNE’S REVIEW

Yikes! Are we truly living in an alternate universe? Some people think this is the case because one example after another showcases the many cultural changes that have taken place over the years on multiple levels --- even including the Bible. Written and directed by Robert Kiviat, the documentary THE MANDELA EFFECT PHENOMENON explores these bizarre occurrences.

The changes in movies, TV shows, brands, logos, etc., are discussed at length by Mark Laflamme, a journalist who has reported on these strange happenings, and Jacob Israel. Citing famous quotes from well-known films such as FORREST GUMP, STAR WARS: EPISODE V – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and FIELD OF DREAMS, Kiviat and his cast discuss how the words have either changed or been remembered incorrectly.

What Kevin Costner hears in FIELD OF DREAMS, “Build it and he will come” has been altered by just about everyone to “Build it and they will come”. The label for the most recognizable soft drink on the planet has gone from Coca-Cola with a hyphen to now just a dot between Coca and Cola. These small changes may seem insignificant, but there are innumerable examples leading many to believe that reality has actually been altered. “Is a supernatural force ‘Editing’ history?”

The “Mandela effect” is a term which originated in 2009 by Fiona Broome, an American writer and paranormal consultant. She mistakenly thought that Nelson Mandela had died while still in prison in the 1980s. In fact, he was released from being incarcerated in 1990 and passed away in 2013. Thus began the fascination with all the things mistakenly remembered as fact.

THE MANDELA EFFECT PHENOMENON is a riveting expose of so many of these altered realities. Unfortunately, Kiviat relies too heavily on Laflamme and Israel to disseminate the information. The doc could have been shortened considerably because it does get repetitive. But this does not negate the fascinating --- and frightening --- message it has to tell.

                 Available on Digital July 9, 2024

Opinion: Mild See It Now!

DAVID’S REVIEW

Is it JIFFY peanut butter or JIF? Was it “Sex and the City” or “Sex in the City”? Did the wicked witch in SNOW WHITE look into the ‘looking glass’ and utter “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” or did she command “Magic mirror on the wall…”? And Forrest Gump surely philosophized that “Life is like a box of chocolates”. Or did he?

We all remember things the same, or even a little differently, but how can some iconic phrases, brand names, cinematic lines and the like now show up as something that has been altered? Or are millions of people simply shrugging it off and saying to themselves “I must have remembered it wrong”? Even the Bible is discussed in this film.

THE MANDELA EFFECT PHENOMENON is a documentary that asks if we are living in an alternate timeline and/or is there a supernatural force changing history? This film, written and directed by Robert Kiviat, noted researcher on some very bizarre subjects, spends a good deal of time looking at a Swiss company called CERN. This organization, known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research, utilizes a super collider for particle acceleration to possibly create an alternate timeline that affects what we think we know.

Two main cast members are the focus of THE MANDELA EFFECT PHENOMENON. They are Jacob Israel and Mark Laflamme, each of whom talk about their different experiences with altered subject matter. Laflamme, for example, wonders why an old photograph in his mother’s home where he and his older brother are standing next to their father now appears to be the mirror image of what he remembers as a youth.

This doc gets its name from an American writer who mistakenly believed Nelson Mandela died in prison. He actually passed away in 2013, years after his release from incarceration. THE MANDELA EFFECT PHENOMENON offers fascinating concepts and utilizes amazing graphics and clips from movies and television. We see a much younger David Letterman, for example, hosting the Academy Awards in 1995, and Sally Field --- or is it Fields? ---accepting her Oscar with her famous line “You like me!”

One more: Did Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) in STAR WARS: EPISODE V – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK tell Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) “Luke, I am your father!” or was the line, “No, I am your father”?

                   Available on Digital July 9, 2024

Opinion:  See It Now!