The Velvet Café

My top list of 2013 is long overdue, but before I get to work I need to get one more 2013 movie out of my system: Trance.

I had almost forgotten about it, which is sort of fitting since amnesia is one of the themes of this film alongside with art and hypnosis.

I hesitate to say this because the word “forgettable” has a bad sound to it. But it’s not a movie that lingers with you, like for instance Gravity, which has become like a bubble that I keep returning to. I watched it, enjoyed the ride as long as it lasted, and when we were done we were done.

While being a heist movie, it’s also a mindbender, resembling more to a time-travel movie than to a thriller. The timeline is a bit broken and you need to pay a bit of attention to work it all out. Or at least I do. I’m pretty stupid when it comes to complicated puzzle stories and more than once have I left the theatre with a clueless expression in my face, such as in the case of Primer and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. This time I felt smug. I put the clues together and the story made sense. I didn’t walk ahead of the story, predicting thing in advance. But on the other side the movie didn’t outsmart me either. We ended up even.

It won’t go to the history books as Danny Boyle’s most important work. But it was a fun little movie that I don’t hesitate recommending for its pure entertainment value.

Trance (Danny Boyle, UK 2013) My rating: 4/5