Trance - Movie Review

I leave out no enthusiasm when I say that Trance is by far one of the best films that I have ever seen. It is one of those films that you really need to pay attention to right from the start – yet even if you do you are ensured to get wonderfully and hopelessly lost.

The film opens with Simon (James McAvoy), hosting a fine art auction. McAvoy opens with a gripping voiceover, explaining the procedure of what to do should a robbery take place with the million pound artworks that he deals with.
Of course, a robbery pursues that night; a robbery controlled by gang-leader Franck (Vincent Cassel). What you don’t realize right off the bat is that Simon turns out to be the inside man in the heist. 

Simon suffers a severe blow to the head during the robbery as he tries to juggle the act of ‘protecting’ the artwork while at the same time, stealing it. The blow to his head causes a bad bout of memory loss which only infuriates Franck as the whereabouts of said painting is now unbeknown to all.

Franck is convinced that Simon is lying when he says he cannot remember where he stashed the painting and so Franck and the gang try to torture the truth out of him. When this doesn’t work, they then decide to send him to a hypnotherapist.

Simon is given a few choices of hypnotherapists but finds himself particularly drawn to a woman by the name of Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson). Little does Simon know that choosing Elizabeth as his hypnotherapist was no coincidence at all and will inevitably open up a whole new can of worms. 

This is such a mesmerizing, psychological film to try and dissect and understand because you have absolutely no grasp on what is reality and what is not. You are also strangely puzzled by who is the hero and who is the villain in the movie – even once it is over. That alone is something that makes this film such a unique gem and so enjoyable to watch.
The second you feel like you finally understand what is going on yet another twist is added into the equation, leaving you speechless, confused and biting right down to your nail bed in anticipation.

It is a mind-teasing, sexy crime-thriller that you find new understandings with each time you watch it.

When I finished director, Danny Boyle’s, latest film I literally wanted to re-watch it all over again right then and there.