There is really only a couple of reasons to see this film.
One: if you're a Danny Boyle fan. I sort of am, which is the main reason I wanted to see it. I'm not a huge fan of his, but a couple of his movies over the last few years have been way better than anything the Hollywood factory has churned out - 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours. So needless to say when a movie of his comes out, I'm mildly interested in seeing it. And his direction for this movie matched the output of his for the last few years but the only that really failed him for this movie was the story line, which I will get to in a little bit.
Two: if your a fan of either James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, or Vincent Cassel, then you should see this film. Out of those three actors, James McAvoy is the other reason I was interested in seeing this movie. He's one of the better young actors coming out of Hollywood that Hollywood isn't force feeding down our throats. Plus, he's Scottish and by now you should know my thoughts on English, Scottish, and European actors, which is, they are hands down some of the best in the world. Way better than the vast majority of American feed Hollywood actors. But let me tell you each of these actors really helped to make this movie's story line flow along at a better pace than it normally would have had, I believe.
Third and final point: if your a fan of twisty, turning story lines that keep twisting and turning throughout, then this is the movie for you. Now, I won't say I'm a huge fan of twisty turning story lines because normally those types of story lines get too focused on the twisting and turning that they forget about character development and the actual story line. The twists and turns is what they become all about. It is their gimmick, their hook, and they have nothing else. After saying that some movies do this way better than others, Chinatown, Sixth Sense, and The Usual Suspects come to mind the quickest, with Chinatown being the one movie that really gut punches the viewer at the end and leaves them wishing for the typical Hollywood ending. And I'm not kidding about that either. These movies didn't worry about the twisting or turning going on in their movie instead they focused on character and story line and let the twisting and turning happen as they normally would.
Now to the movie Trance. Trance's big hook on the twisty, turning department is that one of the main elements of the movie revolves around hypnosis and that hypnosis really works. Now immediately for me this brings up all sorts of warning lights, detour signs, and caution tape because once someone goes under hypnosis in the movie I'm just waiting for the revelation to come that not matter what is happening on screen that person is still under hypnosis, even if they just came out of it. This is as serious problem with these kinds of movie because it puts an unfair burden on the storyline. What I mean by this is that the audience can't sit back and enjoy what is going on, they become so focused on the already premeditated twists and turns brought on by the hypnosis that the story line quickly becomes lost. Just watch any M. Night Shyamalan movies post Sixth Sense for proof of what I'm talking about. All of his movies after Sixth Sense were so focused on the twist or big reveal at the ending that no one could sit back and enjoy the movie. But even Shyamalan became so caught up in the twists and turns that he forgot one of the main reasons Sixth Sense was so good, it was not because of the twist at the end. It was because of the characters. They were the main reason the movie caught on so well. He made the audience care about the characters and let the twisting and turning happen as they would, but all of his movies after sacrificed character and story for twists and turns. Trance does this same thing by the introduction of hypnosis in the story line. I don't think there's any way around this but that is just the unfair burden hypnosis puts on the story line.
The one thing Trance does well that I really liked was that as the movie starts to wrap up some of characters have some dramatic personality changes without it being a gimmick or feeling really badly contrived. One the contrary it worked brilliantly and helped the movie take a dramatic twisty turn that was more earned and heartfelt than the twisty turning of the hypnosis. In my opinion this was one of the best things about this movie and I won't say anything further to spoil the movie. But if you're up for watching an good movie that will entertain you, this movie will do.
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