Movie Reviews

Based on the novel “The Hypnotist” by Lars Kepler, this movie is the latest in a long line of Scandinavian thrillers. Apparently director Lasse Hallström and writer Paolo Vacirca cut some storylines that were in the book because it was too much to cram into one movie. Having never read the book, I can’t tell you if their choices had an impact on the story or not but most of all this is about a detective trying to solve a grisly family murder.

It seems like a century ago that Hallström did anything but make syrupy tearjerkers like Hachi. So to say that he was not the most obvious choice as the director for this one is something of an understatement. And after having watched The Hypnotist, it turns out to be the wrong choice as well.

The movie is off to a good start though. The opening scene where the father gets killed in a gymnasium is raw as hell and the big finale on the ice was not only beautifully filmed, it’s also thrilling. The big problem with The Hypnotist is that most of what comes in between focuses mainly on the relationships between detective Joona Linna and hypnotist Erik Maria Bark, between Bark and his wife,… So much focus is placed on all the different relationships and what the characters are going through, that hardly any time is left to show how they actually solve the crime.

I’m guessing this one works as a book where you have time to explore all the different aspects of the story, not so much as a movie.