They say that one of the best forms of horror is the one that attacks reality. Your reality. Truths and lies that change places. Happiness turned into nightmare. A family full of strangers. The simple idea that "not everything is what it seems" can twist our guts in a very particular way, and the Mandela Catalogue goes all the way…
One of the best horror movies of 2019 (according to critics and the general public) was Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele, with the fascinating Lupita Nyong'o in the lead role. Its basic structure is not new, mind you: From the classic "evil twins" to projects like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the truth is that it's not hard to find stories about deeper identity theft.
Now, there is something fundamentally disturbing about imagining these "doubles" or "replacements", not only of ourselves, but also of those we consider close. The concept of doppelganger can be traced more or less back to Egyptian and Norse mythologies, and modern psychiatry offers us the very real Capgras syndrome, but... what if it were something more than a syndrome?
What if the replacements began much earlier than we think, at a level that interferes with our own essence, and all that remains is a series of strange messages and erratic images to communicate the truth? Welcome to the Mandela Catalogue.
(Editor's note: The very nature of the Catalogue makes its exploration impossible without spoilers. You definitely need to watch episode 1 at least to continue.)
The Disturbing Archives of the Mandela Catalogue
The first episode begins with a direct warning: Humanity faces a threat in the form of alternates, hostile beings whose goal is to replace us. The alternates use advanced psychological warfare techniques to manipulate their victims, to such a point that this very "official" warning has already been modified by them. There are three types of alternates: Type 1 is the classic doppelganger, while Type 3 has impossible physical characteristics. We don't know anything about Type 2... at first.
One of the most striking things about the Mandela Catalogue is its extensive use of analog material to reveal this "reality": phone calls, VHS recordings, old civil defense films, training shorts, security cameras. The "found footage" hits very hard when applied correctly, and the Catalogue manages to develop truly impressive levels of tension.
The Mandela Catalogue has three central episodes (volumes 1, 2, and 333), but it would be a very serious mistake to ignore the rest. Also, the videos that appear on the channel do not reflect the recommended viewing order. Personally, I suggest starting with volume 1, and then watching Overthrone (above), which is the first of all. You can find more information about the order on the wiki, although you shouldn't dig too much there. Spoilers are abundant.
In summary, go to Alex Kister's official channel (creator of the Catalogue) and play everything there, with subtitles enabled. Watching the full material will take you a little over an hour, but I know you'll come back again and again to study every frame, decipher messages, and spot subtleties that escaped you the first time. And remember: The brain is a machine for inventing things and filling gaps... but sometimes it's not wrong.
