I have been a fan of Danny Boyle for a while, I love ’28 Days Later’ (although I switch off when the Eccleston occurs and that is between Eccleston and me). The trailer for Trance didn’t look like the usual kind of thing I go and see, but I was willing to give it a chance.
James McAvoy (yes, him again) is Simon Newton, an art auctioneer involved in an art theft. He sustains a head injury while trying to stop the head thief, Franck played by Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, A Dangerous Method, La Haine). The extent of his involvement in the robbery and the damage he sustained becomes more obvious as the film progresses. The painting apparently disappears somewhere between auction and robbery and the damage done to Simon has made him misplace his memory (as well as the painting).
The thieves coerce Simon into seeing a Hypnotherapist, Dr. Elizabeth Lamb (Sin City) to jog his memory of the event and the whereabouts of their lifted painting. Nothing is quite as it seems though as all their lives become more entangled and the intensity of the trance makes it difficult to tell what is memory and what is not. The closer they get to retrieving the painting the further from the truth they seem and you are kept guessing right until the end.
Trance is the complete opposite to what I expected. I don’t want to spoil it for you and journalists were expressly pleaded with not to give too much away, so I won’t spoil it. I can tell you, you’ll be on the edge of your seat your brain will be twisted in an Inception-style way.
An amazing cast, beautiful visuals and a constantly changing plot that keeps you guessing on who to trust and what to trust. I utterly recommend you go see Trance, and then to go and see it again, because that’s just what I’m going to do.
Trance is in cinemas now