Trance (2013)

Danny Boyle's latest offering "Trance" is a visual and visceral rush of a film, artfully concealing psychological substance beneath the glitzy surface. A non-stop visual, aural and intellectual delight, "Trance" is a cross-over between a heist film and a psychological thriller, resulting in a movie steeped in cinematic convention and yet still fizzling with freshness.

Frustratingly difficult to describe in order not to give away any of the many plot twists, "Trance" begins with a brilliant opening sequence, exposing the glamour of the art world with Simon (James McAvoy) giving a calm and cool voice-over about the history of art heists, and the modern and meticulous method of protecting the paintings, seconds before all hell breaks loose when Frank (Vincent Cassel) and his mercenaries arrive to steal a painting with a face-value of over $27 million. Simon quickly hides the painting in an effort to save it, but is struck over the head by Frank, and awakes with no memory of where he hid it, resulting in Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), a hypnotist having to work to recover his memory.

As a film, "Trance" relies completely upon the story, and the storytelling. The movie reflects a moment in time, and the tale centres around the three different characters and each individuals attempts to double and even triple cross each other in order to walk away with the painting. The visual flairs employed and the films stylistic features bring it to life, and the audience is giving an insight into three different worlds via the three different characters. The films lack of character development is assuredly and effortlessly made up for through the use of a non-linear storyline, which is used to reveal different things about the characters, and acts perfectly as character development.

However, there are a few flaws within the film. The many plot twists give a fresh and interesting pace to the film, and yet border on being overused to the point where it feels like an unintentional parody of Inception. The love story is essential to the plot, and yet it's written like a cast-off, with the acting ensuring it falls flat. There are also many unnecessary scenes of full-frontal nudity, which may be a benefit depending on what you're looking for, but take away from the plot and feel forced, as though it's nudity for the sake of nudity, along with long and quite frankly boring sex scenes. The dialogue is brilliant at times, such as where it reveals the history between fine art and pubic hair in what appears to be a funny and effortless conversations, but the dialogue thoroughly accompanies the plot, at times concentrating so heavily on the clearly well researched psychological aspects that it can distract from the pure thrill of the film and its entertainment, and feel like a lesson in the human mind.

Overall though, the film is stunning, and bordering between genius and madness, which always piques interest among the audience. As a constantly innovative director, Danny Boyle shrouds the complex storyline between the visual flairs of the art world and the gritty world of crime, and contains many plot twists, as well as minor details which later become very important, ensuring you concentrate on the film throughout, even on the sequences that feel like a bit of a let down. The film, whilst suffering minor flaws, is brilliant in both style and story, and promises to be one of the better films of 2013.

3.5/5