Trance (2013)

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Country: UK

Review: “Trance”, the 10th feature film by Danny Boyle (“Shallow Grave”, “Trainspotting”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, “127 Hours”) is a crime thriller, starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, and Rosario Dawson. The story is centered on Simon (McAvoy) who is involved in the theft of a famous painting from the auction house where he works. Franck (Cassel), the leader of a criminal gang, was the man behind the plan. However, some unexpected incidents lead to the painting’s disappearance, while Simon ends up beaten, hospitalized, and with amnesia. When he gets out, is caught and tortured by the gang's men, who think that he hid the valuable piece of art and is faking his condition. After they realize that he wasn't lying, the solution was to hire a hypnotherapist (Dawson) to find the painting whereabouts and recover it. The film has its catchy moments, but at the same time is not so difficult to guess how is going to end. Also, there were scenes that didn’t convince me at all, getting me baffled (yes!), but failing to be consistently plausible. The love triangle that arises stirs up the plot but is exactly on that moment that we start to see where the tricks are. Despite these imperfections, “Trance” doesn't completely disappoint, being visually attractive and well directed. At least, I never got impatient, longing for the end of the movie, and that is a positive aspect.