Do you want to remember or do you want to forget?

- Trance (2013)

OH DANNY BOY(le)!

Trance is the most recent offering from Danny Boyle, that quiet unassuming director of the OLYMPIC OPENING CEREMONY... ahem.

He's got a few gems under his belt that man including cult classic Trainspotting and Leonardo Dicaprio topless in The Beach. As a track record this man is damn good at suspense - an element that ties the whole film Trance together. I didn't even finish my popcorn I was concentrating so much.

Trance is essentially a remake of a 2001 TV movie written and directed by Joe Ahearne. Boyle opens with the sultry Scottish tones of Simon (McAvoy) narrating the history of art thievery. As Peter Bradshaw puts it: "It's a film about the mind and its mysteries, about appearance and reality, truth and untruth."

And jeeeeso let me tell you - it is headspinning.

Vincent Cassell plays Franck, the classic intimidating mob guy with his eyes set on stealing a £25,000,000.00 Goya from a London auction house. Thats a lot of zero's - so you can understand his frustration when the plan goes awry in spectacular style.

Simon, the inside guy, suffers a serious head injury that endangers the entire operation. Simon awakens to realise he can't remember where the Goya is hidden. Enter,  the wonderful Elizabeth Lamb. 

Hypnotist extra-odanaire that keeps you guessing til' the very end.

Everything about the film, from the set dressings in reflective surfaces and dim lighting, to the often expression less line delivery from the actors, is there to confuse the hell out of you. Trance is an insanely convoluted story line and, as it turns out, incredibly difficult to write about without telling you exactly what happens. 

I can highly recommend this film, but be prepared to think hard.

I have a headache.

Have you seen this?

Will you?

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