Trance (2013 film)
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''Trance'' is a 2013
psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...
film directed by
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including ''Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel ''T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' Su ...
with a screenplay by
Joe Ahearne Joe Ahearne is an Irish television writer and director, best known for his work on several fantasy and science fiction based programmes including '' Ultraviolet'', '' Apparitions'' and ''Doctor Who''. He also wrote the screenplay for 2013 fea ...
and
John Hodge John Hodge may refer to: *John R. Hodge (1893–1963), United States Army officer *John E. Hodge (1914–1996), American chemist *John Hodge (politician) (1855–1937), British politician *John Hodge (engineer) (1929–2021), British-born aerospace ...
from a story by Ahearne. It stars
James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...
,
Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film '' La Haine (Hate)'', for which he received two César Award ...
, and
Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
. The world premiere of the film was held in London on 19 March 2013.


Plot

Four men attack an auction house during the auction of
Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
's '' Witches in the Air'' (1798). Simon Newton (McAvoy), one of the auctioneers, follows the house's emergency protocol by quickly removing the painting from the auction floor and packaging it for deposit in a vault, but Franck (Cassel), the leader of the thieves, finds him and takes the package at gunpoint. Simon attacks Franck, who hits Simon on the head and knocks him unconscious. When Franck gets home, he discovers that the package contains only an empty frame. The thieves are unable to find the painting in Simon's apartment or car, so, after he is released from the hospital, they kidnap and torture him. It becomes clear that Simon was involved in the heist as an "inside man" and double-crossed the other thieves, but the blow to the head has left him with a case of
amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...
, and he does not remember where he hid the painting. Franck decides to send Simon to a
hypnotherapist Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th ce ...
to try to help him remember. Simon chooses Elizabeth Lamb (Dawson) from a list of hypnotherapists. Using a fake name, he tells her he is looking for some lost keys, hoping he can secretly get her to lead him to the painting instead. While he is in a hypnotic
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
, Simon gives Elizabeth his real name as the name of an alter ego who will help them find the keys, and she notices Simon's injuries from being tortured and sees a wire sticking out from under his shirt from the
covert listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and ...
he is wearing so the other thieves can hear what he says during the session. When there are only keys in the location Elizabeth helps Simon remember, Franck sends Simon back to Elizabeth. By their second session, she has researched Simon and the theft, and she starts by silently asking him if he is in trouble. When he says he is, she says she can help and tells the other thieves she needs to talk to them. In exchange for a cut of the proceeds from the sale of the painting, Elizabeth hypnotizes Simon again, this time with the other thieves present, but she is unable to get him to remember the location of the painting. Afterward, she asks him how he got involved with Franck, and Simon confesses that he has a gambling problem and convinced Franck to settle his debts in exchange for help stealing the painting. During the next hypnosis session, Simon remembers that, before encountering Franck during the heist, he had cut the painting from the frame and hid it in his suit, and he attacked Franck because Franck was about to look at the painting. Shortly after the blow to his head, he awoke alone and left the auction house. While crossing the street, he was distracted by a text message on his phone and got hit by a red car. He remembers the driver as having been Elizabeth, who he accuses of making him forget something before lunging at her, in the memory as well as in real life. The other thieves restrain Simon, and Elizabeth brings him out of the trance. The next morning, Simon wakes up to find that Elizabeth has slept on his couch because she was worried about him. He says he had a strange dream, which she says was not a dream, in which she and Franck put him in a
fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area ...
and ran a test that indicated he has an obsession with her. Elizabeth explains to Franck that this is due to
transference Transference (german: Übertragung) is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which the "feelings, attitudes, or desires" a person had about one thing are subconsciously projected onto the here-and-now Other. It usually concerns feelings from a ...
and Simon's attempts to fill the gaps in his memory from the brain trauma, but she can use it to seduce Simon and get him to tell her where the painting is. When Simon apologizes to Elizabeth, she acts understanding and agrees to go to out with him. At dinner, Simon abruptly cools toward Elizabeth and goes home. She tells Franck this happened because Simon is jealous of him, and Franck and Elizabeth argue and then have sex. One of the other thieves sees this and tells Simon, who is waiting for Elizabeth when she gets home. She is able to trigger his lust for her to calm his jealousy, and then surreptitiously hypnotizes him. By leading Simon through an imagined narrative in which Franck is planning to kill him, Elizabeth is finally able to get Simon to reveal to her where he hid the painting, but she is caught by the other thieves when she leaves to go retrieve it. Simon and Franck are sent to get the painting, while the other thieves stay behind in Elizabeth's apartment to rape her. Franck is distracted by her screams as the thieves draw closer to her, and Simon overpowers Franck and kills the other three thieves. Elizabeth convinces Simon to spare Franck and bring him with them to get the painting. The trio go to a parking garage and collect a red car, which they drive to a warehouse. During the trip, Elizabeth reveals that Simon had previously come to her for help with his gambling addiction. They started an affair, but he became obsessed with her, jealous, and, eventually, abusive. Fearing for her life, she re-directed the hypnosis to make him forget her. Unfortunately, when Franck hit Simon on the head, it brought back a vague sense of his memories of Elizabeth, and, in his confused state, he imagined the driver of the car who hit him as Elizabeth and strangled the woman to death. At the warehouse, Elizabeth finds the painting and the body of the driver in the trunk of the car. Simon gives Elizabeth the painting and then douses the car in fuel. Because Franck is still zip-tied to the steering wheel, Elizabeth begs Simon to not set the car on fire, but to no avail. While the fuel ignites and Franck struggles to free himself, Elizabeth runs away. She returns in a truck, which she drives into Simon, pinning him against the car. Both Simon and the car in which Franck is trapped are pushed through the wall of the warehouse and into a river. Franck manages to escape, and it is implied that Simon is killed. Elizabeth makes sure Franck is alright before she disappears. Sometime later, Franck is swimming in his apartment while thinking of Elizabeth. A package is delivered, and inside he finds an
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
that contains a video of Elizabeth, who has the painting hanging on the wall behind her. She reveals that, when she hypnotized Simon to make him forget her, she also hypnotized him to steal a painting for her to pay her back for his abuse, which is why Simon broke his agreement with Franck, and it is shown that the text message Simon received before being hit by the car was from Elizabeth and told him to deliver the painting to her. Elizabeth tells Franck that he can try to find her and recover the painting, or he can open an app on the iPad called "Trance", and a recording of her voice will erase her and the whole ordeal from his memory–the choice to remember or forget is his. Franck is shown debating whether to press the button as the screen cuts to black.


Cast

*
James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...
as Simon Newton *
Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film '' La Haine (Hate)'', for which he received two César Award ...
as Franck *
Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
as Elizabeth Lamb *
Danny Sapani Danny Sapani (born 15 November 1970) is a British actor who works in British, American, and Indian films. He is best known for appearing in ''Misfits'', '' Doctor Who'', ''Penny Dreadful'', ''The Crown'', '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' and '' Bl ...
as Nate * Matt Cross as Dominic * Wahab Sheikh as Riz * Mark Poltimore (7th
Baron Poltimore Baron Poltimore, of Poltimore in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Sir George Bampfylde, 6th Baronet. His son, the second Baron, held office as Treasurer of the Household from 187 ...
) as Francis Lemaitre *
Tuppence Middleton Tuppence Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is an English actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the ''London Evening Standard'' Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Middleton appea ...
as Young Woman in Red Car *
Simon Kunz Simon Charles Kunz (born 15 October 1962) is an actor on stage and screen. Early life He attended Latymer Upper School, then completed a degree in Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick. Career He appeared in '' The Parent Trap'' as Ma ...
as Surgeon *
Michael Shaeffer Michael Shaeffer is an English actor, known for his roles as "Longcross" in the BBC political-thriller television series '' Bodyguard'' (2018), Sergeant Yelland in the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best te ...
as Security Guard #1 * Tony Jayawardena as Security Guard #2 * Vincent Montuel as Handsome Waiter * Jai Rajani as Car Park Attendant * Spencer Wilding as 60's Robber * Gursharan Chaggar as Postman * Edward Rising as 60's Auctioneer


Production


Development

After director
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including ''Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel ''T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' Su ...
filmed ''
Shallow Grave Shallow Grave may refer to: * ''Shallow Grave'' (1987 film), an American slasher film * ''Shallow Grave'' (1994 film), a British thriller film directed by Danny Boyle * ''Shallow Grave'' (album), a 2008 album by The Tallest Man on Earth {{disa ...
'' in 1994,
Joe Ahearne Joe Ahearne is an Irish television writer and director, best known for his work on several fantasy and science fiction based programmes including '' Ultraviolet'', '' Apparitions'' and ''Doctor Who''. He also wrote the screenplay for 2013 fea ...
sent the director his screenplay for ''Trance'', seeking Boyle's encouragement. Boyle thought the project would be "quite difficult" for a beginning screenwriter. Ahearne later turned the script into a 2001 British
television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
. Boyle never forgot it, and, almost two decades after their original conversation, he contacted Ahearne about turning it into a feature film. Partially based on Ahearne's television film o
the same name
''Trance'' underwent script doctoring by screenwriter
John Hodge John Hodge may refer to: *John R. Hodge (1893–1963), United States Army officer *John E. Hodge (1914–1996), American chemist *John Hodge (politician) (1855–1937), British politician *John Hodge (engineer) (1929–2021), British-born aerospace ...
, marking the fifth motion picture collaboration between Hodge and Boyle.


Casting

In May 2011, Michael Fassbender was cast as Franck, but he later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Colin Firth was considered for the part before Cassel was cast.
Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
, Melanie Thierry, and
Zoe Saldana Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...
were considered for the role that went to Dawson. McAvoy, who accepted his role in 2011, said that, while reading the script, he almost turned down the part because Simon seemed to be a victim, which didn't interest him. He told
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's reporter
Laura Sullivan Laura Sullivan (born about 1974) is a correspondent and investigative reporter for National Public Radio (NPR). Her investigations air regularly on ''Morning Edition'', ''All Things Considered'', and other NPR programs. She is also an on-air cor ...
: "And then I got about 15 or 20 pages in, and I started to sense that something else was coming in the character. And then something else did come. And then about every 10 pages, something else came. Until at the end, I was hungry to play this part."


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
for the film began in September 2011. After filming wrapped up, the film was placed on hold in order for Boyle to work on the opening ceremony of the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London.
Post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...
was then picked up again in August 2012. Boyle said that this is "the first time I put a woman at the heart of a movie." He also said that he originally intended to set the movie in New York City, but it was filmed in London and in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
instead, as Boyle's Olympic ceremony duties meant he had to stay in the United Kingdom.


Music

On 4 January 2013, it was announced that Rick Smith of the band
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
would be composing the music for the film. Underworld previously contributed tracks to other Danny Boyle films, including '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''
A Life Less Ordinary ''A Life Less Ordinary'' is a 1997 romantic black comedy film directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and starring Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Ian Holm and Dan Hedaya. The plot follows two angels (Hunte ...
'' (1997), '' The Beach'' (2000), and '' Sunshine'' (2007). About the collaboration, Smith said: "After finishing the Opening Ceremony, I hardly knew what day of the week it was. I took a month off work, off music, off everything. Exactly one month and three days after we said goodbye in the stadium, I received a text from Danny that said, 'Do you ever want to hear from me again workwise and would that go as far as having a chat about ''Trance''... Questions, questions.' Two Minutes later I was on board." When asked by an interviewer about the secret of his 17-year-old creative partnership with Smith, Boyle joked, "He's cheap." Then, answering seriously, he said that they both like electronic music and that he doesn't prescribe a sound for a scene, but lets Smith follow his own instincts. The soundtrack album for ''Trance'' was released in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2013 and in the United States on 2 April.


Release

Boyle showed a
teaser trailer A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...
for the film and an extended version of an alternate ending at
South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
on 9 March 2013. The entire film could not be screened at the festival, as is usually done, because the producing studio
Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...
owned the rights to the world premiere, which was held in London on 19 March 2013. The film saw general release in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2013 and in the United States on 5 April.


Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it has a score of 68% based on reviews from 160 critics; the site's consensus is: "As stylish as ever, director Danny Boyle seems to be treading water with the surprisingly thinly written ''Trance'' -- but for fans of Boyle's work, it should still prove a trippily entertaining distraction". On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 based on reviews from film critics, the film has a score of 61% based on 37 reviews. In its review, ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a dazzling, absorbing entertainment which shows off Danny Boyle's mastery of complex storytelling and black, black humour." ''Empire'' also ranked the film #27 in its top 50 films of 2013. ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' writer Michael O'Sullivan described Boyle as "playing fast and loose with reality."


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trance 2013 films 2013 crime drama films 2013 psychological thriller films British crime drama films British crime thriller films British mystery films Films directed by Danny Boyle Films set in apartment buildings Films shot in Kent Films shot in London British neo-noir films TSG Entertainment films Film4 Productions films Pathé films British nonlinear narrative films Films with screenplays by John Hodge Films about amnesia Films about hypnosis Indian Paintbrush (production company) films Cultural depictions of Francisco Goya 2010s English-language films 2010s British films