Hypnotic

Name: Hypnotic
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Comedy
Released: May 12, 2023
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Alice Braga, Ben Affleck, Bonnie Discepolo, Dayo Okeniyi, Derek Russo

2023

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Ratings

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5.3

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5.3	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Ketchup Entertainment | Release Date: May 12, 2023 | Not Rated

Starring: Alice Braga, Ben Affleck, Bonnie Discepolo, Dayo Okeniyi, Derek Russo, Hala Finley, J.D. Pardo, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeff Fahey, Kelly Frye, Ruben Javier Caballero, William Fichtner, Zane Holtz

Summary: Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) instead finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending bank robberies where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz (AliceDetermined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) instead finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending bank robberies where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz (Alice Braga), a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously pursues and is pursued by a lethal specter (William Fichtner) - the one man he believes holds the key to finding the missing girl - only to discover more than he ever bargained for.… Expand

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Genre(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Comedy, Romance, Crime, Animation

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 92 min

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Critic Reviews

The Telegraph Robbie Collin

May 12, 2023

An entirely uproarious 90 minutes at the cinema which asks nothing more of its audience than that they keep their incredulity suspended for just a few seconds longer and keep enjoying the ride. Read full review

IndieWire Christian Zilko

May 11, 2023

It feels like an utterly ridiculous film before you hit the multitude of twists that blow up its already-shaky premise a dozen times over. But at a certain point, the film’s commitment to its own asininity becomes so overpowering that even the most cynical viewers will have no choice but to suspend their disbelief and be sucked into its magic. Read full review

Jesse Hassenger

May 11, 2023

Blended with its 2000s plot points are the expedience, blunt dialogue and noirish venetian-blind shadows of a mid-to-lower-tier 1940s genre picture – with Affleck affecting a ragged, lummox-y dignity in the lead. If this doesn’t sound actually good, well, Hypnotic is a modest picture; that’s part of its appeal, if applicable. Read full review

The Playlist Rodrigo Perez

May 1, 2023

Hypnotic features a well-crafted suspense sequence or two, a couple of clever twists – but also some wildly stupid ones, and a bone-headed over-explainer ending that treats the entire audience like dopes. [Work in Progress SXSW 2023] Read full review

James Berardinelli

May 16, 2023

Affleck is at his best playing wisecracking supporting roles (like in the recent Air, which Affleck also directed) and at his worst as an action hero. He sleepwalks his way through Hypnotic, doing little to rouse the audience from its own slumber while failing to generate any sparks with his co-star, Alice Braga. Read full review

Katie Walsh

May 11, 2023

It’s fun to see [Rodriguez] color in new shades of film genre, but the script and performances in “Hypnotic” are too laughably absurd to take seriously. Read full review

Tomris Laffly

May 10, 2023

Sadly, the film is a tedious and erratically cut caper, whose shape-shifting story feels like an uneven and over-plotted rehash of various recognizable films that we’ve seen before. Read full review

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User Reviews

dxn17

Jun 10, 2023

I honestly believe that if you didn't highly rate this movie then your taste in movies is horrendous. This could easily win movie of the year. This movie couldn't have been any better. I couldn't tell what's real from what's not and it was keeping me at the edge of my seat. I believe thatI honestly believe that if you didn't highly rate this movie then your taste in movies is horrendous. This could easily win movie of the year. This movie couldn't have been any better. I couldn't tell what's real from what's not and it was keeping me at the edge of my seat. I believe that this movie deserves way more credit than people are giving it and I, 100%, don't regret watching it. It really opened my eyes to the extent of which people would go just to have their own way. It also showed me that you never know who you can trust and that family is really important. Special thanks to the director and casts and I'm hoping for a sequel. Blessings.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

MOVIELEO777

May 13, 2023

I'm just blowen away with the twists and turns of this film, after the credits, there was a short clip that made yet another surprising ending. Make sure to stay til the end.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

BradMorgan

Jun 24, 2023

A thriller in which nothing is what it seems. With this theme you have gold as a filmmaker as you can literally bend and manipulate the universe. It is sometimes difficult for the viewer to tie the strings together, but in the end it comes together well within 1.5 hours.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Marty_McFly_AM

Jul 11, 2023

Mediocre mystery-movie with oppressive atmospheres that veers into fantasy-thriller, and in whose narrated story the alleged reality questions itself; and everything that is seen with the eyes becomes deceptive, evanescent; nothing and no one can be trusted.
These intriguing premises,Mediocre mystery-movie with oppressive atmospheres that veers into fantasy-thriller, and in whose narrated story the alleged reality questions itself; and everything that is seen with the eyes becomes deceptive, evanescent; nothing and no one can be trusted.
These intriguing premises, combined with some successful sequences of the film, however, are spoiled very soon by an unnecessarily convoluted and tangled script, as well as by a substantially unsurprising, not very incisive and effective realization (even in the action scenes).
Robert Rodriguez looks at a cinema of the past that made history (De Palma, Hitchcock, Siegel, even if the closest model remains "The Alien" by Jack Sholder) and at themes already better treated in ambitious, innovative and complex films (such as those by Nolan), but his direction fails to master form and structure or to make his work more modern and personal.
The final result, even on a narrative level, is unfortunately of an insipid ordinariness that struggles to interest or fully involve the viewer, and above all, to excite him or push him to stimulating reflections.
Among the main defects: a simplistic screenplay, low-level digital effects, too many explanatory monologues, and the action that is scarce in quantity and quality.
Ben Affleck confuses inner torment with inexpressiveness, only partially justified by the role and the mental state in which Inspector Rourke finds himself for a good part of the film. The inevitable counter-finale alludes to a possible sequel, but it is very unlikely that "Hypnotic" leaves anyone with the desire to produce one.
Ultimately, a fragile and weak operation that gets lost in its own setting and falls apart by itself because it lacks solid foundations on which to work…… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JLuis_001

May 15, 2023

Hypnotic is a frustrating and underwhelming sci-fi thriller that squanders the potential of its premise and also its cast. Clearly there was little effort or desire to make this movie, and I mean to make it with any real substance.

The film suffers from a lack of originality and coherence.Hypnotic is a frustrating and underwhelming sci-fi thriller that squanders the potential of its premise and also its cast. Clearly there was little effort or desire to make this movie, and I mean to make it with any real substance.

The film suffers from a lack of originality and coherence. More than anything Hypnotic is afflicted by a lazy directing from Robert Rodriguez and a hollow performance from Ben Affleck, who throughout the entire movie can't get the expression of tedium off his face which inevitably shows that he made this movie more out of a contract than a genuine interest in the character or the story.

There's an interesting story hidden in this ill-fated adventure, but you'll never see it come to fruition.
There is no development or depth whatsoever in its plot and it also suffers from uncharismatic, underdeveloped and uninteresting characters.
Moreover, the concept it explores is not very well explained or exploited and is more confusing than meaningful.

Believe me when I tell you that in the near future no one will be talking about this film when they talk about Rodriguez or Affleck.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

MattyIce34

May 12, 2023

Really good, so long as you’ve never seen Inception, or Firestarter, or Memento, or New Mutants, or Tenet, or The Dark Knight, or Spy Kids, or

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

digitaledaniel

Aug 25, 2023

For on the poster: Avoid at all cost. An insult to your brain! Most stupid movie of the year! In the beginning I presumed the caracters that were used to do tasks for the hypnotiser where prepped in advance, but the movie is built around the concept that some can make you do something byFor on the poster: Avoid at all cost. An insult to your brain! Most stupid movie of the year! In the beginning I presumed the caracters that were used to do tasks for the hypnotiser where prepped in advance, but the movie is built around the concept that some can make you do something by telling you. I love SF so anything goes, if its credible. This is not! Also its full of mistakes. Like often they only have to arrest or shoot the culprit who is standing closeby, but they don't!And nonsense, like when they shoot his best colleage, to 'save' him from his hypnotic orders. There are many ways to prevent someone from harm, but a bullet in the forehead ain't one. There's only one reason to go to this mess, thats when you can't get to sleep. This will make your mind do tricks to escape the stupidity, like dozing off...… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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