Simon (James McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer, teams up with a criminal gang to steal a work of art worth millions of dollars, but after suffering a blow to the head during the heist he wakes to discover that he has no memory of where he has hidden the painting. When physical threats and torture fail to produce answers, the gang’s leader Franck (Vincent Cassel) hires hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to delve into the darkest recesses of Simon’s psyche.

As Lamb digs deeper into his broken subconscious, the stakes become much higher and the boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur and disappear.

TRANCE is SIDE EFFECTS out of SPELLBOUND as deception and the doors of perception fly open and shut like some freaky Freudian farce as director Danny Boyle uses an hypnotic tone to trance-port on a hundred minute thrill ride of huh? Wow! And what the ….
Interest never wanes especially when Rosario Dawson waxes Brazilian and Vincent Cassel excels in urbane menace as if auditioning to play the next suave nemesis to James Bond.

Shot by Anthony Dod Mantle who won the Oscar for Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, TRANCE has a translucent look that is quite literally mesmerising and the use of a trance like beat to the music adds to the complete audio viz experience.

A trip to the cinema is well worth a bit of TRANCE spotting.

© Richard Cotter

4th April, 2013

Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews-TRANCE, Danny Boyle, James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Dod Mantle, Sydney Arts Guide, Richard Cotter