“If you had the right person… if you get a hold of them, dig right in… if you get them under your spell… if you work hard—and take your time… and do it right… you can make them want to do… almost… anything.”

When a group of armed robbers attack a fine art auction, auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) makes a run for the back room to hide the Rembrandt that’s up-for-bid in a safe place. However, during the commotion that follows, he receives a blow to the head and can no longer remember where he placed the art. The thieves ransack Simon’s home but cannot find the painting, so they enlist the help of hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) to begin a series of sessions to help Simon remember its location. Simon soon finds himself in a struggle to tell reality from illusion, and his hypnotherapist seems to know more than she lets on.

Danny Boyle once again delivers a film that is both visually and aurally stunning, though at times the story can be a bit overly complex and confusing. I was instantly drawn in by the film’s opening sequence where Simon narrates the security measures taken by the auction house and how they can only prepare for the inevitable heist. The heist itself was equally exciting. However, after that, I felt more confused than engaged by the film, until the final act changed all that.

The core of the film gets overly complex in an Inception kind of way. Some may describe the film as a psychological heist movie—as the characters try to discover the location of the missing painting, you, along with the characters, struggle to figure out reality from trance state. You also find yourself questioning your initial thoughts on the morality of the characters. The characters are constantly changing and you never know who is truly good or bad. It is a constant battle in your head to make sense of it all. However, viewers who stick with the film are handsomely rewarded in the final act, where the film comes full circle in a masterful way, bringing together all of those seemingly-disparate elements of the film. I had one of those Wow moments like I used to get with early M. Night Shyamalan films.

The film has a bit of a fluid genre that is constantly evolving over the course of the film—from heist film to psychological thriller to femme fatale noir and more. There were quite a few twists and turns that I never saw coming. Despite not initially being a fan of the complex core of the film, once the credits rolled, I had an immediate urge to start over from the beginning now that I knew how all of these aspects came together.

The acting in the film is great, with the three main actors—Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy (in his natural Scottish accent) and Vincent Cassel—all delivering terrific dramatic performances. They all manage to give layered performances and are able to capture several different sides to their characters.

The film itself looks beautiful, with a crisp, clear picture that recreates the director’s unique style and look. The Blu-ray audio track is also well done, delivering dialog equally as well as the film’s memorable soundtrack. This Blu-ray provides a decent selection of bonus features, the most interesting of which is a 30-minute behind the scenes documentary. There are also some deleted scenes (though they don’t really add much), an interesting retrospective on the films Danny Boyle has made with Fox Searchlight and an unrelated short film.

While I suspect this film may be polarizing, particularly for folks who prefer a more straight-forward story, I think the film is definitely worth checking out as it does come together in the end in a great way. Viewers just need to be willing to open up their minds and go along for the ride.

What’s Included:

Film (1:41:19):

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD 5.1, Portuguese DD 5.1, Czech DD 5.1, Hungarian DD 5.1, Polish DD 5.1, Thai DD 5.1, Turkish DD 5.1,
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish

Digital Copy: (Redemption Deadline 7/23/2015)

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Vudu or Flixster

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (16:33)
  Play All or select from 7 scenes: “Stolen Paintings”, “Chip Shop”, “Boy in a Red Vest”, “I Still Have It”, “It Wasn’t A Dream”, “I’m Bad You Know” and “Tell Me Now”. These are primarily extremely short segments cut from existing scenes in the film. The only substantial addition was the eleven-minute “It Wasn’t A Dream” sequence, which I actually think works better to explain what’s going on than the final version of those scenes used in the film.
• The Power of Suggestion — Making Trance (33:59)
  Director Danny Boyle provides a short introduction to this 4-part making-of featurette, discussing how this project came about while he was working on the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
  • Danny’s Film Noir (10:13)
    Director Danny Boyle talks about making a film with a woman at the center of it. Also includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with stars Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel and James McAvoy, as well as producer Christian Colson, screenwriter John Hodge, production designer Mark Tildesley, and costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb.
  • Hypnotherapy (6:34)
    Director Danny Boyle, stars Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy and Vincent Cassel, clinical psychologist Professor David Oakely, producer Christian Colson discuss the concepts of hypnotherapy and suggestion used in the film. Sound Recordist Simon Hayes talks about the aural style of the therapy sessions in the film. Also includes behind-the-scenes footage.
  • The Look (8:56)
    Production Designer Mark Tildesley, producer Christian Colson, director Danny Boyle, stars Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy and Vincent Cassel, and director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle discuss the look of the film. They talk about the blending of the styles of the trance scenes and the real world scenes so viewers would not be able to trust their eyes. Fine Art Painter Charlie Cobb discusses the artwork used in the film.
  • The Final Rewrite (7:06)
    Director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge, producer Christian Colson, editor Jon Harris, and star Rosario Dawson discuss how the final product was edited in a way to ensure that there were twists, turns and mystery. Danny Boyle talks about taking a long break from the film to work on the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
• Danny Boyle Retrospective (14:56)
  Danny Boyle talks about his long relationship with Fox Searchlight. Features clips and discussion about A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, 28 Days Later…, Millions, Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later…, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours and Trance.
• Short Film: Eugene by Spencer Susser (13:07)
  Fun short film about a lonely guy who finds a mysterious box containing computerized genie on his hotel room doorstep and starts making wishes, until things take a turn for the worse.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:22)
• Sneak Peek (11:47)
  Play All or select from trailers for The Wolverine, The Blu-Ray Experience, Stoker, The East, Hitchcock and Carrie.
• Trance Unravelled (Easter Egg) (6:01)
  See what really happened, in the order that it happened, with this montage of clips from the film. (To get to this feature, just keep pressing the right arrow on the main menu.)

Final Thoughts:

Danny Boyle once again delivers a film that is both visually and aurally stunning. While film can be a bit overly complex and confusing, those who stick with it will be pleased by how it all comes together in the end. The Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds great and the disc provides some interesting bonus features that delve into the making of the film. Those who prefer more straightforward storytelling in their films may want to rent first, but fans of Inception-style mixed up storytelling should definitely check this out.