Forgot the hip-hip-hooray of the 2012’s Olympics opening ceremony. If Trainspotting’s drug-fuelled hallucinations or Shallow Grave’s eye-twitching paranoia is anything to go by, Danny Boyle is a director who doesn’t shy away from exploring the strangest corners of the human psyche. Trance goes deeper than before as a British crime caper that exchanges the gritty mean streets of central London for the dark, often disturbing thoughts of one man’s mind.
After falling into serious debt with a group of gangsters headed up by the ruthless Franck (Vincent Cassel), young art expert Simon (James McAvoy) becomes their inside man in a London auction house for a planned heist. However when Simon is dealt a blow to the head during the stylish, high octane opening sequence, he awakens with no memory. After unsuccessfully trying to jog Simon’s memory with brute force and ignorance, Franck resorts to the unorthodox practice of hypnotherapy enlisting the help of Dr Elizabeth Lamb (Rosaria Dawson).
What follows is a mind-bending psychological thriller that seems to constantly shift the audience’s perception of what is real and what is not. Boyle uses chromatic spectrums, reflective surfaces and disorientating cinematography to give the film a hypnotic dream-like quality. Sequences overlap, often shown out of order, further blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Comparable to recent films such as Inception and Memento, Danny Boyle’s personal touches are what make this film unique, even if his approach to storytelling doesn’t live up to the Nolan standard.
What makes the lead cast so engaging is that the concept of “hero and villain” is completely turned on its head. The same can’t be said for the supporting cast however, who are dense caricatures of London gangster types, just one corny line short of spurting cockney rhyming slang at every given opportunity.
The stand-out performance comes from Rosario Dawson, who in spite of the perplexing plot twists is the glue that keeps the film firmly held together.
Like waking up from a dream, there are a number of scenes that will stick in your mind, while the rest will be easily forgotten. Trance offers a gloriously psychedelic experience that despite some baggy storytelling and improbable logic, still holds its own as an immensely dark and seductive psychological thriller.
Directed by Danny Boyle and starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosaria Dawson.
By Leigh Forgie
