The Illusionists

The Illusionists is a critically acclaimed documentary about the globalization of beauty and the dark side of advertising.

Short Synopsis

Sex sells. What sells even more? Insecurity. Multi-billion dollar industries saturate our lives with images of unattainable beauty, exporting body hatred from New York to Beirut to Tokyo. Their target? Women, and increasingly men and children. The Illusionists turns the mirror on media, exposing the absurd, sometimes humorous, and shocking images that seek to enslave us.

Watch The Illusionists

You can rent or buy The Illusionists on its official website. There are 3 versions of the film available for viewing: a director’s cut for the general public (running time: 85 minutes, in English with subtitles in English, French, Spanish and Italian), as well as shorter versions for schools, universities and non-profits (sold via the film’s educational distributor the Media Education Foundation).

The Illusionists has received stellar reviews by the likes of Joss Whedon (director of The Avengers), Claire Mysko (CEO of NEDA) and Brian Cuban (author of “Shattered Image”). Check out what viewers are saying: