On Trance

Never one to make the easy choice by working in a similar genre or take an easy directing choice, Danny Boyle follows his we-all-know-how-it-ends-story, 127 Hours (2010) with Trance. Trance is about and partially set inside the mind and therefore draws thematic links with recent philosophy of the mind cinema such as Memento (2000), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Inception (2010). However, Boyle has been quite clear that Trance is his tribute to Nicolas Roeg.

If it were nothing else, Trance is visually a beautiful film. Boyle plays with colour, light and shadow to create an aesthetic treat, relevant for a film to do with art. However, Trance is so much more that visually pleasing, yet it does require one giant leap of faith. We are required to suspend our disbelief that hypnotherapy can have a powerful hold over people to the extent that the hypnotherapist can influence them to do anything. This, Trance tells us, is possible with only 5% of the population. Whether this is true or not, on film it falls more into the realm of fantasy than reality and that only adds to Trance’s appeal.

If you accept the hypnotherapy the film is gripping. The script, by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge is impressively intelligent, balancing the complex inner outer mind shifts with skill and ensuring the conclusion is clear. Characters are also very smartly drawn and force us to question who we think is right and wrong. Yet, perhaps most impressive in a film so routed in fantasy and abstract imagery is that the story is heart wrenchingly real and ultimately a tragic love triangle.

Trance is many things and defies easy categorisation, much like Boyle himself. But whatever it is, it deserves seeing.