Strictly speaking, this text should come with a spoiler warning, because it‘s hard to write about Robert Rodriguez‘s new film without revealing something. On the other hand: if a film is called HYPNOTIC, you can already guess that not everything is as it appears here. When the first scene with Ben Affleck playing cop Daniel Rourke tells a psychiatrist that his daughter Minnie disappeared without a trace a few years ago, you don‘t have to believe every word that is said. Even if the entire world believes that Minnie is long dead, Rourke has not given up hope and is therefore not surprised when he tries to prevent a bank robbery and finds a Polaroid photo of his daughter in the deposit box, which is the aim of mastermind Dellrayne (William Fichtner). “Find Lev Dellrayne“ is written on the Polaroid and which film with Polaroid clues do you inevitably have to think of? That‘s right: Christopher Nolan‘s MEMENTO, which like many other films, seems to have been the inspiration for a play with genre motifs that Robert Rodriguez (director, script, camera, editor, producer) juggles here. The film was shot in Rodriguez‘s homebase Austin, many sets are recognizable from early Rodriguez films, his play with known motifs is also known, but it works very well here. Part film noir, part mindbender, part family drama: these are the ingredients of Rodriguez‘s genre mix that is enjoyably short at 90 minutes and is split into three acts, taking the story down a new path every thirty minutes. It isn‘t revolutionarily original, but it has a playful dynamic that is very watchable.

Michael Meyns

Translation: Elinor Lewy