Into the Film is an ambitious new series that seeks to merge film screenings with immersive theater. They launched on August 4 with A Night at the Opera, and we stopped by to don a mask and pursue the mysterious phantom of this aforementioned opera ourselves. Though the first showing had a few bumps, as all ambitious projects do, the event overall showed a lot of promise.
Into the Film comes from Erik Geffner-Mihlsten and his siblings, Alena and Alex. (You can read No Pro’s interview with Erik here.) For their inaugural event, they chose to recreate the world of Universal Pictures’ silent gothic horror, The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Based on the 1909 novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera tells the tale of a disfigured musician who lurks beneath the Paris Opera House and becomes dangerously obsessed with opera ingenue Christine Daaé. The Phantom will stop at nothing to make Christine his bride, even if that means murdering everyone in his way. Lon Chaney starred in the titular role, terrifying moviegoers in one of Universal’s earliest horror blockbusters, six years before the monumental Dracula and Frankenstein would premiere. The Geffner-Mihlsten siblings chose this particular film because a) it’s old enough to fall under public domain and b) it’s a familiar story, told repeatedly in musical, movie, and occasionally parody form. So much so that I honestly don’t think it requires a spoiler warning, but feel free to skip the next paragraph if you’re worried about Phantom spoilers.
As you may recall from your required reading, the novel begins as a pair of new managers take over the theater, which is rumored to be haunted. Christine is a young and talented chorus girl, but the Phantom’s infatuation with her has made her the star of the show in his mind. The opera, however, already has a star in Carlotta, an archetypal diva with a prodigious amount of her own talent. Carlotta has been cast as the lead in the opera’s upcoming production of Faust, but the Phantom sends the managers a message that either Christine replaces Carlotta or else. The managers ignore the Phantom’s request, and he responds by crashing a chandelier down into an unfortunate bystander during the performance. This is the point in the well-trod tale at which guests of Into the Film enter.
The immersive elements had begun before our arrival, however. We were asked to each fill out an online survey, which sorted us into various character roles. I became an undercover operative with a secret police force attempting to bust this so-called phantom, while my friend was a social climbing member of the bourgeoisie. So, when got to the Santa Monica Bay Women’s Club (making its debut as the Paris Opera House for the evening), we were armed with our agendas and backstories.
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A poster advertising Faust greeted guests, who were asked to dress in opera-appropriate attire, outside the venue. We were ushered inside by the anxious managers, who gave each of us an envelope with instructions to open it only when advised. We were free to wander up to the lounge, where Crepes Bonaparte offered the food for the evening, and a bar offered signature cocktails, beer, and wine. (Though not integral to the immersive elements, I’d like to offer praise for an efficient bar that managed to offer a handful of balanced cocktails that bartenders could whip up in a timely fashion.) We also had the opportunity to encounter a few characters: a fortune teller, a janitor who knew more than he let on, and a band of ballerinas who spent the evening either giggling or shrieking, depending on the mood.
The game kicked into high gear about a half hour into the event. We were told to turn off our fantastical contraptions by the managers who, being from 1880s Paris, were not acquainted with the iPhone. We were then treated to a pair of performances in the auditorium before we were allowed to open our envelopes. The contents gave us our missions for the night, which essentially consisted of solving a series of puzzles. However, our paths to solving them immediately bifurcated. I had a completely different task to complete than my friend, so we split up and darted all around the venue to accomplish our goals. Into the Film Art Director Richard Holland (IMDB credits include Labyrinth and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) had managed to create several scenes from the story in the space — the managers’ office, Christine’s dressing room, a parlor where Carlotta espoused her own greatness. Though many of these scenes were divided from one another with curtains alone, carefully selected props, audio tracks, and engaged actors made each space come alive.
Each scene also offered various clues, and if you happened to arrive at the right time, you were treated to brief theatrical vignettes or actor one-on-ones, written by Mark Sonnenblick, that pushed the story along.
After we completed our first round of tasks, my friend and I found our final challenge was the same. We had to suss out three separate answers by solving three different puzzles. This portion of the night could have used a beta test, as some puzzles didn’t seem to work with their clues. Escape room types might find this frustrating, while those more interested in chatting with actors and exploring the sets will still have fun. It’s also important to mention that guests were not required to solve the puzzles. They could wander the scenes, interact with characters and guests, have a crepe, or enjoy a cocktail. The reward for solving the puzzle was unlocking an extra vignette. As it seemed few (if any) patrons were able to solve it, the actors sagely began allowing anyone who looked like they were trying to complete the puzzle to see the scene. This make things a touch anticlimactic.
This all lasted about two hours before guests were ushered back into the theater for the screening itself. As Phantom is a silent film, guests were treated to a live score via Helix Collective. As rich an experience as that might have been, it seemed as though several of the guests were high on their immersive experience and not ready to sit down and watch a film that required them to read intertitles. A more engrossing film, perhaps, would have enjoyed a better outcome.
All in all, Into the Film seems very promising and may perhaps become Los Angeles’ answer to the U.K.’s Secret Cinema, which has had a decade to perfect their immersive work. There are a lot of good ideas here, and the execution seems like it would be fully polished after a few runs. It will be interesting to see what world they explore next.
Into the Film: A Night at the Opera runs through August 13th at 1210 4th Street in Santa Monica. Tickets are $59 -77 dollars.
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