Ben Affleck in “Hypnotic”: A journey back in time to the noughties (©Hypnotic Film Holdings LLC)
Detective Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) is in a therapy session. He is struggling with the loss of his seven-year-old daughter, Minnie, who was abducted from a playground. The quickly apprehended kidnapper claims to have no memory of the incident and no clue as to Minnie’s whereabouts. Rourke has every hope that his daughter is alive. While investigating a series of bank robberies masterminded by the charismatic Dellrayne (William Fichtner), he discovers a Polaroid of Minnie at the crime scene. It dawns on him that the super thug plays a key role in her disappearance. The fortune teller Diana (Alice Braga) explains to Rourke: Dellrayne is a so-called hypnotic. He can control thoughts and imprison people in fake realities, so-called “hypnotic constructs”. He does this on behalf of a clandestine secret society called “The Division”, which wants to install an all-powerful surveillance state. Diana left because she no longer wanted to be responsible for the nefarious activities of the organization. From now on she and Rourke are a team. What they then find out about Minnie’s disappearance shuffles the cards all over again…
“Hypnotic”: released in cinemas twenty years too late
Robert Rodriguez’s (‘From Dusk Til Dawn’, ‘Sin City’) new film feels like a trip back in time to the noughties, which isn’t always a pleasure. With its brownish-blue color palette, the jittery orchestral score and a main actor who, despite deep trauma, never takes his poker face off, “Hypnotic” seems like it was released in cinemas twenty years too late. The labyrinthine plot, which still has one more mindbender twist up its sleeve, uses content and visuals bluntly to Christopher Nolan’s genre lessons “Memento” and “Inception”. Like Nolan, Rodriguez also mirrors his own profession with his hypnosis scenario: After all, what else does a director do than to convince the audience with gently lulling violence that the hocus-pocus on the screen is real?
„Hypnotic“, directed by Robert Rodriguez. With Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, William Fichtner. 93 min. In cinemas from August 10, 2023
Here’s the trailer for the film:
A first version of this article was published in SZENE HAMBURG 08/2023.
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2023-08-10 05:01:44
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