Review: 'Trance' a Frenetic, Haunting Head Trip Worth Taking

Director Danny Boyle, fresh off being dubbed a national hero for his triumph directing the Olympic ceremonies in London, took a big directorial risk with his new release "Trance."

The film is a frenetic, haunting genre-bender that grabs hold of and keeps your attention from its first moments to its last with such force you'll feel like you're falling through Alice's rabbit hole after being hurled into it by two burly 6-foot bunnies in kilts.

This cinematic journey is one filled with confusion, illusions, violence and moral ambiguities, and not a head trip everyone will be willing to surrender to or appreciate. Much like the somewhat similarly convoluted "Inception," it is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of flick.

Whether it will be enjoyable for you depends on your fascination with film noir and movies with high-velocity mind games and layered realities. If those appeal to you, you'll likely love "Trance."

The meat of the story involves Scottish art auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) who gets mixed up with a group of thieves led by career criminal Franck (Vincent Cassel). When Simon attempts a double cross during the robbery of a multimillion-dollar Goya painting, Franck gives him a crack on the head, causing him to forget where he hid the art.

They hire hypnotist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to retrieve Simon's memories. That's where the loopy mind trip really begins, and things get very noir from there. What really happened? Who is the bad guy and who is the good guy here? Determining the answers to those questions is what keeps the movie so engrossing.

Boyle has chosen his cast well. McAvoy, Dawson and Cassel are all equally on fire but in very different ways. The thoroughly riveting McAvoy further exposes his wide acting range and power to carry an audience with him through his character arc. No other A-listers could have pulled that off with such conviction.

Dawson's role is so meaty it must have started a cat fight in Hollywood. She shows she deserves to have won it, displaying equal parts controlled elegance, brittle fragility and determination.

Cassel finds a way to flesh out Franck when, in lesser hands, he could have been reduced to a caricature. His Franck is built of nuanced gestures, restraint,  occasional ticks and bursts of laughter, all of which keep us guessing at his inner monologue.

Fans of all three actors will declare their favorite the driving force, but each has an important part to play in the puzzle and sustained audience connection. While there are clues throughout as to what is happening, what is reality, and who the hero is, you will be repeatedly surprised, and your allegiance will likely switch multiple times.

As actors, there is no doubt the trio teams together well to move the audience from sympathy to repulsion and back again. I suspect the haters will hate because over the course of the story they may feel tricked by the way loyalties, moral compasses and realities switch about… But it is that very complexity that makes it so exciting to other viewers, keeping them thoroughly connected to the characters and story.

Those of you with your curiosity piqued will no doubt love "Trance" and may return for multiple viewings. The more times you see it, the more impressed you'll be with how the puzzle pieces fit together, no matter how far fetched they seem at first.

That Boyle, screenwriters Joe Ahearne and John Hodge, and the cast could craft such an unusual, exciting and original film is impressive, and a wonder best experienced firsthand. The resulting cinematic journey might blow your mind, but it's a trip well worth taking.

"Trance" is playing at AMC Loews Shirlington 7.