Through the routine of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Massachusetts, Frederick Wiseman’s landmark documentary provides a raw and candid perspective on the institutionalization of inmates in the United States in the 1960s. Called "a nightmare of ghoulish obscenities" by Boston Superior Court Judge Harry Kalus, whose ruling banned public screenings for over 20 years, the film documents the various ways the inmates were treated by the guards, social workers and psychiatrists. Shown in a restored print celebrating the 50 years of Wiseman’s first film.