Trance Review concerning narrative

Trance Review This review will focus on the narrative of Trance, and will therefore contain MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Trance is a 2013 Mystery/Thriller Directed by Danny Boyle. It stars James MacAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassell.

Trance seems to begin as a heist thriller. We see James McAvoy’s composed art auctioneer Simon heroically prevent a robbery of a priceless painting. The thieves who failed the job (the Charming Vincent Cassel and his menacing collection of Brit thugs) then force him to go under hypnosis so he can remember where he hid it (after a blow to the head gives him a textbook case of movie amnesia). He attends sessions with Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), a kindly yet confident femme fatale hypnotherapist, over whom he slowly develops an obsession. As the film progresses it is the relationship between the three leads instead of the pursuit of the painting that takes narrative precedence.

Characters hook up, peoples shaved genitals are nonchalantly glimpsed, and violence and betrayal ramp up the tension as the film becomes increasingly confusing. As soon as Simon starts going into trance, the narrative is never clear. It’s not clear if you’re supposed to know what’s going on, and in my first viewing I was worried that I should’ve been able to keep up. This was not the case. The film is a puzzle, albeit not one to be worked out as you’re watching it (because the actual sequence of events is too farfetched), more like a constant stream of lies before an explanation of the ridiculously contrived truth. Scenes are frequently replayed from different perspective, each time revealing new information as more dialogue or characters are added. I guess the problem with the story is ultimately the use of hypnosis, and its unfamiliarity to most viewers. Although the rules are explained pretty well, it’s just a step too far for me to believe that (SPOILER) Simon could be hypnotised to firstly forget his entire relationship with Elizabeth and then steal a painting for her without knowing he’s doing it. If it was a Derren Brown special it’d be more believable, but as a movie it just seems too silly.

The act of watching the film is much more satisfying than the reveal, although there are a lot of pleasures to be had. Under any other director the film may have been completely underwhelming, but Boyle gives a lot to Trance. It’s exactly the right amount of trippy for a movie about hypnosis, not too much special effects or people’s faces going wobbly, instead the use of over-saturation and colour is subtly beautiful, and serves to confuse the viewer superbly as you’re never sure if what’s going on is real. Rick Smith’s (Underworld) soundtrack is hypnotic and pulsing, and a worthy listen without the film.

The performances in this film are very enjoyable, although you could argue that Vincent Cassell was mis-cast. Until the ending, he's supposed to be the film's antagonist, only there's one problem; he's way too likable. He's a great villain in other films, a pesky meddling cat-burglar type who's probably the best thing in Oceans Twelve, and the intimidating and increasingly podgy titular character of Mesrine part one and two. He smiles his way through this however, and there's little threat of violence on his part. Despite this, he is very watchable.

I've seen Trance twice now, and it was much more enjoyable the second time round, as is the case with many mystery films. There are a lot of moments that nod to the real story, and you feel like a smarty-pants when you understand the nods to the truth; Elizabeth’s initial pause when she 'first' meets Simon (on first viewing apparently an indication of attraction), the restaurant with which Simon is strangely familiar.  The way the twist is handled could have been better though. The Usual Suspects is the high benchmark for twist reveals, and this doesn't come anyway near it, firstly because the twist is kind of underwhelming, and secondly because of the way Elizabeth explains the real story, with a third person monologue which is gratingly cringe worthy, as clips of previous events as well as flashbacks are reshown. At this moment its more 'oh' than 'ah'.

So not nearly as smart as it thinks it is, Trance’s confusing and contrived story is saved by performance (Vincent Cassell is never dull, and despite being the ‘bad guy’ for the majority of the film I would rather have watched him over MacAvoy for the entirety) and cinematography.