Directed by: Matt Angel, Suzanne Coote
Written by: Richard D’Ovidio
Cast: Kate Siegel, Jason O’Mara, Dulé Hill, Jaime M. Callica
Could you give control over your mind to a complete stranger? Is hypnosis even real? Does hypnotherapy help those suffering from traumatic experiences? This film explores what would happen if you gave complete control over your mind — to a psychopath.
I want to start by saying – they tried to make something good here. You can really feel the effort in the film. It’s not terrible, don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t pointless like Netflix’s The Open House, but Hypnotic just felt like it was missing that certain je ne sais quoi.
Jenn Tompson (Siegel) is a woman fresh out of what appears at first to be a bad relationship with her former fiancé, Brian (Callica). She’s invited to a housewarming party by a mutual friend of both Jenn and Brian. It’s an uncomfortable situation as both spot each other and have awkward conversations while attempting to be civil to each other.
While at the party, the host introduces Jenn to a therapist Dr. Collin Reed (O’Mara) who’s done wonders for his clients and has helped people with life-changing breakthroughs in seemingly everyone he’s worked with. Jenn is standoffish and pretty skeptical of Reed initially, but she maintains cordial contact at the party.
Jenn however is spiraling into a bad place, and matters turn worse after the encounter with her ex at the party. Feelings of remorse and guilt flood in on Jenn. We don’t exactly know why Brian has such a negative impact. Could he have been toxic to her? Could he have been abusive? Turns out neither.
Dr. Reed struck a chord with Jenn somehow, and she agrees to meet with him for a therapy session shortly after her negative encounter with her ex. While in the session, the trauma that created the rift between her now ex, Brian is revealed. (I’ll keep this part a secret in case you want to check this out yourself.)
Jenn has been through a traumatic situation, and Dr. Reed suggests hypnotherapy for Jenn to work through these issues.
As most people would react to this, Jenn is very reluctant. She’s not sure she wants to give total control over her mind to someone. Reed convinces her by saying that she is in total control, and this is just a tool to help her.
Jenn closes her eyes, and before she knows it she opens her eyes and the session is over. It’s like nothing even happened, but a nefarious seed has been planted with this hypnosis session.
Very shortly after this odd, but interesting, visit with Dr. Reed, things positively change for Jenn. She gets that new job she’s been after, and life is feeling better overall. Jenn keeps going to therapy sessions, all including hypnosis and things seem great. That is until Jenn is starting to have bouts of “missing time.” Time where she doesn’t remember what she’s been doing or where she’s been.
Things take a sudden turn when Brian is in a near-fatal accident in Jenn’s apartment. Jenn starts to piece together the strange missing time, and she believes that it’s due to Dr. Reed’s hypnosis sessions. Of course, she’s right, and it turns out that Dr. Reed is a nut job himself.
I could go on to say more about the plot of this film, but from the description I made, you can sort of piece together your own story of what happens. The film is pretty predictable, and while you’re not entirely sure why Dr. Reed is so crazy, it becomes apparent mid-way through the film.
They really tried to make a good and exciting thriller-type film, but for me, it was a flat meh. In fact, it just made me think of how it’s probably damaging to real people in that it may scare people out of going to therapy for their needs.
I can’t bring myself to say more about this film, because most of it isn’t worth mentioning. The acting is alright, nothing spectacular. Nothing really comes to mind when thinking of the merits of this film. If you’re bored and have nothing else to watch, Hypnotic may be a decent flick for you. If you’re expecting a great thriller featuring hypnosis a la Jordan Peele’s Get Out you won’t find it here. Hypnotic wasn’t a bad film, it just wasn’t all that good.
