Hypnotisören (2012)

A detective pairs himself with a famous psychologist on a case involving a traumatized young witness to a crime.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Paolo Vacirca (screenplay), Paolo Vacirca (story),

Stars:

Tobias Zilliacus, Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Olin

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobias Zilliacus	...	Joona Linna
Mikael Persbrandt	...	Erik Maria Bark
Lena Olin	...	Simone Bark
Helena af Sandeberg	...	Daniella
Oscar Pettersson	...	Benjamin
Anna Azcarate	...	Lydia
Jonatan Bökman	...	Josef
Jan Waldekranz	...	Shulman
Eva Melander	...	Magdalena
Göran Thorell	...	Stensund
Gustav Levin	...	Carlos
Tomas Magnusson	...	Petter
Ulf Eklund	...	Nålen
Conny Vakare	...	Kut chefen
Emma Mehonic	...	Evelyn

Storyline

After a young woman and her parents are murdered by a killer determined to wipe out the entire family, Detective Inspector Joona Linna works with a psychiatrist to hypnotize the son who narrowly escaped death in order to find the one surviving daughter before the murderer does.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

28 September 2012 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Hypnotisøren

Filming Locations:

Norrbotten, Swedish Lapland, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmpool Nord, Sonet Film, Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lasse Hallström's first Swedish language film in 25 years.

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Goofs

The movie shows a hemophiliac being administered antihemophilic factor through an intramuscular injection at night. Antihemophilic factor is mostly administered in mornings and always intravenously.

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Connections

References Battlefield 3 (2011)

User Reviews

Didn't know I could dislike Lena Ohlin this much

It's a strange feeling, watching Swedish genre movies of this kind. Because, even as a swede myself. It never feels natural. It feels like a pale imitation of something that HBO would slap together for an episode of another CSI knockoff.

Starting of with the plot. Which is infuriatingly predictable. And if it's one thing a thriller shouldn't force its viewer to do it's to make us sit and patiently wait for the characters to catch up with the obvious conclusions that the viewer has already reached. This makes the few points that the movie does well into forgettable set-pieces. Things will happen that are mildly intriguing. But then a character will do something that just makes you want to slap them. They'll start to whine. Argue about something non-relevant. I swear. For a long time I even forgot that there was a murder in the movie because the story got so bogged down with lazily written marital problems. For most of the film I was simply thinking two things: "Get on with it!" and "Why are we still here?". And even "Naw, it couldn't be that simple? right? oh, it seems like... yup... they really think this was clever?"

And then there's the characters. My summary mentions Lena Ohlin. And yes. She did become my biggest gripe here. Every scene she was on screen I grew to dislike her even more than the last scene. When not picking unnecessary fights with everyone she meets she's being either hysterical or well... a bit less hysterical. I don't think it's the fault of the actress. Because I think no one would be able to save the characters written into the film. Bland. Uninteresting. Two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of personalities. Again. It's like watching a bad imitation of a mediocre American cop-show where the filmmakers think they're doing the next Sixth Sense.

In many ways it reminds me of the recent series called Äkta Människor. It's that feeling that you're watching a product that the makers are so fond of. But has no idea what has already been done in the genre. Or even worse, they figure that the audience (Swedish middle-class) hasn't seen the films they are influenced by.

About the only redeeming aspect here is the cinematography. But even that where mostly drab grey. Dark and bland...

But as it seems to have been fairly well received I might be in the minority here. It had a couple of interesting ideas in execution. But at the same time it's just too bogged down in mediocrity to stand out in any way, shape or form.