Wormwood Institute is an Analog Horror web series created by Peppermint Films.
The series centers on various videotapes recovered from the eponymous boarding school, located in an unknown town in America. Abandoned some time in the 1990s, these tapes from the school news team were recovered and the video footage archived.
From these tapes, it paints a very dark picture of the school and its culture of obedience, with the school being connected to at least one missing persons case.
The whole series can be viewed here
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Wormwood Institute provides examples of:
- The Alcatraz: The campus is surrounded by unusually-long barricades and the faculty is insistent that students stay within the boundaries to avoid encountering the "Slanted Man." Near the end of "12 Hours of Relaxing 90's Ambient Music," the video is hijacked by an unknown party implying that Wormwood isn't actually a school and that their families want them out of there.
- All of the Other Reindeer: The "foreign exchange students" (read: students who transfer into Wormwood from other schools, regardless if they're from outside the US or not) are treated as outcasts by the other students due to their non-conformity.
- Ambiguous Situation: Does Anya really care about the students' well-being? Or was she a trap set up by Wormwood's Principal to weed out those who rebel against the system?
- Big Good:
- Student Council campaigner Anya presents herself as an attempt to be one in "90's Campaign Ad." She's blunt about how horrible life in Wormwood Institute actually is and promises numerous improvements if she's voted in. Not only does she lose to the male host (who wins by a landslide), but she ends up disappearing too.
- Whoever's hijacking broadcasts. During both of their segments, they're either badmouthing the Evil Principal or trying to warn students of how dangerous the place can be.
- Blind Obedience: The students are expected to follow the Principal's rules for the school, with no regard for their mental well-being.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The male host of the program seems very cheery when delivering whatever news story on the tapes, but when the news broadcast is done for the day, he doesn't hesitate to go full Jerkass on his co-host for saying a line in the script incorrectly.
- Chemically-Induced Insanity: During the "Stranger Offers Candy" skit, the girl recording the exchange finds the man carrying candy off-putting, calling him a "weirdo" under her breath as he leaves. Three episodes later, it's implied the gummy worms have been laced with a drug that's making people act weird.
- The Conspiracy: Implied. Wormwood is a place where blatantly-terrible things are happening behind the scenes and the school's trying its hardest to cover them up: Students are disappearing (as in, they're running away), the students that stick around are Stepford Smilers, the school's made gummi worms that may-or-may-not be laced with chemicals abnormally easy to obtain and if the broadcast hijacker is telling the truth Wormwood isn't a school at all but a front for something else.
- Crapsaccharine World: At first glance, Wormwood seems like your average American high school. However, as each tape is archived, it paints a tragic tale of how a toxic school atmosphere can break down its students. Made even worse by The Reveal that Wormwood may not be a school at all but the front for The Principal's mysterious "project."
- Creepy Monotone: A Recurring Element. The news and PSA segments are all narrated in a near-zombie-like monotone to reinforce how wrong everyone at the Institute is.
- Descended Creator: An In-Universe example. The male host also writes the scripts for each week's news bulletin.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The male host fires his female co-host at the end of "90s TV News Outtakes" just because she messed up on her line.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: "90's Broadcast Gets Hijacked" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. The Principal's birthday broadcast is hijacked by an unknown party threatening to expose "his lies." The same party shows up later on in the 12-hour ambient music compilation, implying that Wormwood isn't a school at all.
- The Dragon: The male host is implied to be one to the Principal, regularly upholding the school's toxic student life.
- Dress Code: Downplayed in "90's Security Footage." There's a segment about changes to the school's dress code. It was actually about fingernail/toenail size. Clothes aren't even brought up. Oh, and it only applies to girls.
- Environmental Symbolism: During the male host's "The Reason You Suck" Speech in "90's TV News Outtakes," the ambient lighting of the green screen progressively fades as the boy's words get harsher and harsher. By the time he's done and his co-host is a crying mess, the room is almost pitch-black.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Or "Working With Evil Makes You Ugly." After the first broadcast-hijacking, The Male Host (who's implied to be working for The Principal directly) stops taking care of himself: His eyes get baggier, he becomes progressively more abrasive and his clothing becomes less colorful. By the time of "90's TV News Outtakes," he's a disheveled mess that barely resembles the youth we see in the first episode and he ends up having a breakdown.
- Evil Principal: Wormwood is ran by one. He's borderline-worshipped by the student-body at-large and has cultivated an atmosphere of Blind Obedience. He also may or may not be using the school for illegal experiments.
- The Faceless: The Principal of the school has never been seen (much less heard) onscreen.
- Felony Misdemeanor:
- It's implied the students that couldn't attend The Principal's Birthday party have a punishment awaiting them.
- The Principal and the male host decide to fire the news co-host over the occasional slip-up during script reading.
- Foreshadowing:
- The first hijack in "90's Broadcast Gets Hijacked" alludes to The Principal's "lies" and makes mention of a project that's doomed to fail. The second broadcast during the ambient-music compilation adds onto this; dropping the ominous implication that Wormwood itself isn't a school at all but something more sinister.
- After the first network hijack, The Male Host's behavior and mannerisms progressively darken. Visible bags start showing up under his eyes, his clothing becomes less colorful and he even starts rushing segments in irritation. This culminates in a meltdown at the end of "90's TV News Outtakes," wherein he emotionally-shatters his co-host over mis-reading a script line.
- Government Drug Enforcement: Downplayed. Shortly after "90's Drug PSA," gummi worms becomes a free food that can be found in any vending machine on-campus. "90's High School Hallways" implies these worms are laced with something to keep people in line.
- Is This Thing Still On?: After the male host's tantrum over his co-host's script-reading in "90's TV News Outtakes," it slowly dawns on him that the camera's still on.
- Man Behind the Man: Discussed. The first broadcast hijack alludes to "employers" who are skeptical of the Principal's "sloppy project," meaning even the faceless overseer is answering to someone.
- Meaningful Name: "Wormwood" is the name of a plant whose oil contains a poison that can induce violent seizures. The Wormwood Institute can be seen as a poison that affects everyone who attends the school.
- Mundane Horror: The premise. Wormwood Institute is a Boarding School of Horrors trying and failing to pass itself off as paradise. Everything about is too serene and too perfect. Terrible things happen regularly and any attempts to improve the facility are stifled by brainwashed masses too mentally-damaged to care. That's assuming Wormwood Institute is even a school.
- Noodle Incident: In "90's TV News Outtakes," the anchors report on the school's servers having been broken into; albeit with minimal damage to equipment and nothing stolen.
- No "Police" Option: Played for Drama. The school advises its students to not call the police about the disappearance of Helena Ives. While the PSA explains that it's an internal investigation by the school, it's heavily implied that the school did not want the truth about its student life going to the authorities.
- Prima Donna Director: In "90s TV News Outtakes", the male host goes ballistic on his female co-host for messing up on her script, to the point where she is on the verge of tears by the end of the tape. He fires her shortly after this.
- Red Herring: An entity called the "Slanted Man" is revealed in "90's Security Footage." This entity is only mentioned once and has no bearing on anything that's happened so far.
- The Runaway:
- Helena Ives, a student at Wormwood, was last seen leaving her dorm in the afternoon carrying nothing but a plastic bag. It's heavily implied in subsequent tapes that she ran away to escape the toxic school atmosphere of Wormwood. She eventually comes back, but the nature of the incident remains hush-hush; implying it wasn't by choice.
- Student Council campaigner Anya Joy disappears shortly after Helena comes back.
- Serious Business: Played for Drama. In "90's TV News Outtakes," The Male Host has a breakdown over his co-host getting one word of her script wrong, making it seem like she lacks school spirit over a simple misreading. He was so offended at the slight mistake that he conspired with The Principal to get her fired.
- Stock Footage: Keenan and Thompson's Weather segment from "90s' High School" is re-used shot-for-shot in "90's Drug PSA."
- Stepford Smiler: Nearly every student seen on the tapes is a Type A, putting on a cheery facade to hide how miserable the school culture made them.
- Sucky School: Played for Horror. The series documents the psychologically-destructive culture of a Boarding School of Horrors.
- Teacher's Pet: Later episodes imply the male host is The Dragon to The Principal - He drops the overseer's title numerous times and even uses this against his female co-host during his firing of her.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Immediately after the broadcast-hijacking of the Principal's birthday party, the male host spends nearly ten seconds staring off into space before his co-anchor gets his attention. He then desperately orders the cameraman to cut the feed.
- Wasted Beauty: The Male Host is a well-kempt, perfectly-groomed boy that comes off like the ideal student. He's soon revealed to be a Jerkass that's actively enforcing Wormwood's Blind Obedience to The Princpal; made more evident by said boyish looks fading after the first broadcast hijack.
