Review #720: 'Trance' (2013)

British film-maker Danny Boyle has always relied on his eye for the fresh and stylish to give his movies a real rush. Trance is no different, and what may appear on the surface to be yet another heist film full of sharp suits and crisp cinematography, it is anything but. The twists and turns may leave your brain spinning - it is comparable in many ways to that other recent head-scratcher, Inception (2010) - but it is how it plays with its various characters that makes the film so alluring. It starts out by breaking the fourth wall and has art-dealer Simon (James McAvoy) narrating his way through a rather bland Goya theft, but the film then beings to play with these early conceptions and ultimately makes it hard to get out of head.

Thug Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his crew successfully steal a rare Goya painting up for auction from under the watchful nose of auctioneer Simon, who, after being hit on the head by a shotgun, is unable to remember anything from the robbery. It turns out that Simon was in on it all along but has double-crossed Franck and hidden the painting for himself, only now he can't remember where he put it. Enter hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), who uses the trance like state that Simon so easily falls into to try and unlock the secrets he seems to be subconsciously unwilling to reveal. Elizabeth must go deeper into Simon's subconscious, but as the revelations keep coming, Simon finds is difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is not.

It sounds like a bit of a silly set-up, and admittedly the film does require the audience's patience, as it soon becomes clear that the painting may just be a McGuffin, and there's bigger and darker secrets simmering under the surface that the film takes delight in slowly unravelling. Such a thing may be significantly damaging to a film's credibility, but Boyle's visual flair keeps the action suitably exciting to distract from the negatives, and he has once again teamed up with Underworld co-founder Rick Smith to deliver a pulsating soundtrack. It is unfortunate, however, that the film feels the need to descend into gratuitous violence during the climax, darkening the film's tone far too drastically.

A lot of the film's success is down to the performance of James McAvoy, who rounds up a successful 2013 with a second impressive performance (along with Filth). It's a role that requires a character shift so sudden that his work here can only be admired. Dawson is also suitably spunky, finally given a role that suits her acting style. And a lot of the film hinges on the likeability of the actors, because as the revelations come - and they are thick and fast in the last 30 minutes - personalities change and backgrounds are revealed, and the audience needs to be fully invested in these characters to want to see out the rest of the film with them. As the credits roll and you sit rather confused (and possibly a bit pissed off), you may be somewhat dismayed by the experience, but once it sinks in, Trance becomes an intriguing experience.


Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel
Country: UK/France

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie