Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes:
Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole investigating a series of reality-bending crimes where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz, a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously pursues and is pursued by a lethal specter — the one man he believes holds the key to finding the missing girl — only to discover more than he ever bargained for.
Review:
Hypnotic is a lower budget Inception, a mind twisting
Christopher Nolan wannabe flick. Directed by Robert Rodriguez , it stars Ben Affleck and Alice Braga in a plot that features increasingly nervy Jedi mind tricks and gaslighting.
Rodriguez who has been in self imposed exile from adult cinema, doing the Young Adult Spy Kids series, mainly for Netflix, for the last decade, has created a flick that takes advantage of his action chops and artful camera moves. He has found something ambitious, something that takes him back to his roots and yet pushes him forward, even if it’s just as a genre director.
Telling any more would be spoiling the fun and twists to come. It will also violate my vow not to do paragraphs of plot regurgitation. Let’s just say Hypnotic is something perfect for someone who has his own small studio in Austin, Texas.
At some point, the mind tricks and hypnotic constructs bite off more than can chew as Rodriguez attempts to create a more adult Spy Kids franchise. The ending is silly sappy and a little too much kumbaya. Until then, Affleck and Braga have given us a nice bit of acting misdirection— and Rodriguez a ruthlessly efficient and entertaining crowd pleaser.
Hypnotic gets a 3.5 out of 5 or a B+. It’s streaming on Peacock.
Credits:
Directed by
Screenplay by
- Robert Rodriguez
Story by
Robert Rodriguez
Produced by
- Mark Gill
- Guy Botham
- Lisa Ellzey
- Jeff Robinov
- John Graham
- Racer Max
- Robert Rodriguez
Starring
- Ben Affleck
- Alice Braga
- J. D. Pardo
- Hala Finley
- Dayo Okeniyi
- Jeff Fahey
- Jackie Earle Haley
- William Fichtner
Cinematography
- Pablo Berron
- Robert Rodriguez
Edited by
Robert Rodriguez
Music by
Rebel Rodriguez[2]
Production
companies
Distributed by
- Ketchup Entertainment
Release dates
- March 12, 2023(SXSW)
- May 12, 2023(United States)
Running time
94 minutes[3]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$65 million
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