Lasse Hallström is a master of sentimental American Feel-Good Dramas with films like 'THE CIDERHOUSE RULE (1999)', 'WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993)' and 'AN UNFINISHED LIFE (2005)' and others on his resume.
With 'THE HYPNOTIST (2012)' he decided to go back to his roots (at least country-wise) to Sweden after more than 20 years working abroad (primarily the US).
This movie is as far away from the typical feel-good movies he usually makes as possible though, a very bleak and very typical Swedish detective film.
Another thing you can usually count on with his films is great cinematography with beautiful rich and warm colours, but being that this movie is not his typical bag he decided to go the complete opposite in that aspect too.
Most scenes are filmed with intentional poor lighting to cause a sense of dread but honestly just makes it boring to look at instead with washed out colours and overall just a very unimpressive look (save for a couple outdoor scenes).
The script I guess it could have been an okay movie technically but the acting is really dodgy, especially the lead detective played by the unknown (for me at least) Tobias Zilliacus who's seemingly sleepwalking through the scenes for the more part.
Persbrandt and Olin occasionally gets it right but hardly either's proudest acting-moments.
Helena Af Sandeberg is in it for a little bit, I usually like her a lot but her role is fairly pointless in this one.
So yeah, not very impressive and incredibly drawn out.
It's based on a book and even though I haven't read it I am sure that that is much better than the movie, don't see how it could be any worse.
