Writer/director Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic, a film that promises a mind-bending and reality-shifting experience, isn’t edgy enough to be interesting. While the final act provides some thrills, getting there requires you to endure two acts desperately in need of a dose of adrenaline. (“Endure” is not an overstatement in this case.)
Ben Affleck, coming off an outstanding job directing and starring in Air, seems to be just going through the paces as Danny Rourke, a police detective devastated by the loss of his child. Flashbacks reveal his young daughter, Minnie, was abducted from a playground while he was watching her. Danny made the mistake of taking his eyes off his child for just a moment, long enough for a stranger to steal her away.
Although Minnie was never found, a man who claimed not to have any memory of the incident was found guilty of her kidnapping. His conviction failed to offer Danny any solace, and he remains determined to find his missing daughter, convinced she’s still alive.
Cleared to return to work after his personal trauma, Danny leaps into a case involving multiple bank robberies. What’s unusual about this series of robberies is that the thief only steals a single safe deposit box at each location.
Danny and his partner, Nicks (JD Pardo, Mayans M.C.), follow an anonymous tip about the thief’s next target. They organize a stakeout and observe a suspicious man (William Fichtner, The Company You Keep) briefly conversing with a woman on a park bench. The man then whispers something to two armed guards before entering the bank.
The man appears to trigger bizarre, erratic behavior in anyone he encounters. Even Danny’s colleagues aren’t immune to whatever power this mysterious man possesses.
Danny’s shocked to discover a clue to his daughter’s whereabouts in the safe deposit box described by the anonymous tipster. Inside the box is a polaroid of Minnie with “find Lev dellrayne” written on the bottom. The mysterious man who appears to be able to control minds is Dellrayne, and Danny quickly realizes this mysterious figure has all the answers.
Danny’s journey to reunite with his daughter sends him down the rabbit hole into a secret government organization of “hypnotic constructs.” Diana Cruz (Alice Braga), a gifted psychic, is his entry into this hidden world. As she slowly doles out the details, Danny loses his ability to determine what’s real and what’s a thought planted in his mind.
To say more would spoil the experience, and if you’re going to take a chance on Hypnotic, the less you know, the better. So don’t even watch a trailer as it may raise your expectations and set you up to have your hopes dashed.
It’s not that Rodriguez and Max Borenstein’s script is confusing. Hypnotic isn’t difficult to understand if you pay attention. And therein lies the problem. Paying attention is a big ask, given that Hypnotic is so lacking in character development that it’s difficult to care about Danny, Alice, or Dellrayne.
The world in which these hypnotic constructs exist should be fascinating, but only the last act manages to capitalize on the concept of mind control as a weapon. Unfortunately, the twist is revealed too early, making it feel like Hypnotic would have been better suited as a short film solely focused on the final act.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: R for violence
Running Time: 93 minutes
Release Date: May 12, 2023 (limited)
Distributed By: Ketchup Entertainment
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