Great Film overall

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Excellent thriller very reminiscent of Shallow Grave (1994) but better! It is full of twists, revelations and a shaven haven (but it fits the story so it's not gratuitous). The style is as brilliant as you would expect from Danny Boyle, punchy, fast, music is excellent. Love a crime thriller.

A heist to steal a work of art goes without a glitch, except no one knows where the painting is. the main character has lost his memory so his underworld companions recruit a hypnotherapist to tease out the location of the loot.Now this film is called "Trance" and has a hypnotist as a main character which gives you a hint on the direction of this film.It is mainly about control and suggestion. Characters use physical, mental, sexual and emotional methods to get their way. Who is controlling who? What is real and what is imagined? Who is the main player and who is being had over?It is entertaining enough, James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson are up to the job of carry this off, but I did feel it lacked a little something.The length of the film is well measured, I was just starting to get bored with the intrigue when it came to a close.It worked pretty well, I just didn't get excited about it. I think for the plot to unfold the way it does you have to lose sympathy with some of the characters.Some nudity and mild violence..

Danny Boyle is one of the industry's most innovative, versatile and inventive modern directors. He has a solid track-record of great films, but I don't think Trance is one of them. Trance is one of those movies that shouldn't be a movie. When there is so much filler and unnecessary scenes that it may as well be an episode from a TV show or TV movie. My hopes for a solid piece or entertainment were high during the first act, but from then on, the movie takes a sharp turn down a road of mediocrity that really doesn't end anywhere.The first act of the film were charming and witty. We see a cast of familiar and talented faces as James McAvoy's character lays it down for us. It at first reminded me of a Guy Ritchie film, with it's energetic camera movements, witty narration and character introductions familiar to Snatch, but sadly this is not nearly as enjoyable after the first act.The problem with Trance is that the story is so muddled with unnecessary scenes and filler that it almost feels unfinished and very rushed. Like they needed more scenes to fill a feature-length run time but were running out of ideas. The story itself is very linear but is never simple or focused. The movie never follows it's narrative clearly and it leads to some confusion during viewing, which was eventually frustrating because it seemed Trance never really cared about telling a cohesive story, let alone even finish it.One of my biggest issues is the exploitation of themes within the film. Rosario Dawson goes fully nude for the film and the scene in which this occurs was meant to be sexy and enjoyable for the audience. But it just felt super exploitative and unnecessary to the story. It felt like it was shoved in to actually get people to talk about the film but it was just awfully executed and felt awkward to watch. The same goes for the violence. Trance is surprisingly graphic at times but I was having a hard time trying to figure out why. The brutal violence strayed so far away from the original tone of the movie that it as well felt unnecessary and overdone. Trance really doesn't understand it's audience and it led to a generally displeasing viewing experience.The hypnosis sequences are really the only interesting part of the film but by the end they get tiring and overdone. There were way too many of these scenes and it felt as if Boyle was including all these trippy sequences to make up for the awful "love story" occurring in the secondary story arch as the relationships and feelings these characters share are never clear.In total, Trance is a messy, bloated, unfinished skeleton of a film. With some more work and editing done to it, Trance could've been a lot better but as it stands now it is only a fraction of Boyle's real talent behind the camera. Trance is the kind of movie that you want to love because of the cool concept and narrative style, but can never get into because the movie doesn't really seem to care. The choppy and exploitative story is predictable and certainly not viewer-friendly. If you're looking for some mindless and forgettable entertainment then Trance will do you well. Just don't expect to come out happy and satisfied.

This film starts with an interesting premise but slowly surprises with many other layers. The movie starts with an enrapturing sequence, that is manipulated by the director/ the storyteller and thus keeps us invested in the plot. The story similar to inception (in a good way) delves into the human psyche, memory and the mind. This subject matter makes the audience feel intelligent and invested as well as the masterful performances of James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Rene Cassel keep your eyes attached to the screen. The ending gives the audience one of the greatest and most heartbreaking revelations in movies that changes how one views the protagonists and the plot.