Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic has something of a mid 2000’s feel to it. A mind-bending story with Ben Affleck the charismatic lead. If this had been released before Inception it may have been a big hit, but unfortunately this feels like a B movie version of Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film.
That is to say, it’s never boring, the story is engaging, there are multiple twists but it can be nonsensical at times and that takes away from what is a very stylish film. It looks great, the acting is fine, albeit with some questionable dialogue.

Hypnotic starts with a full screen shot of an eye as the camera pans we see a dazed Detective Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) he is talking to a therapist, as she rhythmically taps her pen on a pad. He pays attention and apologizes for being distracted. They discuss his daughters kidnapping and whether he is ready to go back to work.
Danny is haunted by his daughters disappearance with no answers from her imprisoned kidnapper who claims no memory and mental health issues, he is left with little evidence to focus on.
Danny is sucked right back into work along with his partner Nicks (J.D. Pardo) they get a mysterious tip, a bank robbery about to go down with a specific safety deposit box being targeted . This is where they encounter Dellrayne (William Fichtner).

They watch Dellrayne from a far, as he interacts with various people including two security guards. Danny determines they’re all involved and heads straight to the bank before them, where he talks his way into the vault and safety deposit box, he shockingly finds a clue to his daughters disappearance.
Danny confronts Dellrayne, but he seems to be able to manipulate people around him to get what he wants, even mentioning Danny’s daughters kidnapper suggesting all is not what it seems. Dellrayne manipulates two officers and makes his escape.

Danny teams up with Diana Cruz (Alice Braga) a local psychic to hunt down Dellrayne. Who they have discovered to be a very powerful hypnotic. The two together must try to untangle the mystery to his daughters disappearance.
If you can get past some of the outrageous ‘hypnotic powers’ and a couple of lines of dialogue that will make you laugh when it’s not supposed to be funny. Hypnotic has many fun twists and turns, keeping you engaged all the way to its conclusion.

Hypnotic is in theaters now in the US. It will be released May 26 in the UK.
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