THE HYPNOTIST. Your typical Scandinavian crime thriller

Since attaining bestseller status, among the numerous plots offered every year by Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, or Finnish creators, global audiences are most intrigued by those featuring murder, investigation, and a distinctive social backdrop. In other words, “Scandinavian crime fiction” has become a cultural brand. Lasse Hallström‘s The Hypnotist seems to be another expression of this trend, continuing the easily marketable convention. The problem is that the opportunistic aspect has overshadowed the actual quality of this film.

In The Hypnotist, the narrative suffers from repetitiveness. However, the story begins with a strong impact – a teacher of Chinese martial arts is murdered at school. Subsequently, his family is brutally killed at home. Miraculously, their teenage son survives. Lead investigator Commissioner Joona Linna will consider him an extremely important witness. However, the boy remains in such a critical condition that extracting testimony from him is impossible. The commissioner decides to enlist the help of a renowned psychiatrist, Erik M. Bark, who once practiced hypnosis. His extraordinary abilities are meant to extract crucial information from the sole witness to the crime. Unfortunately, by involving himself in the case, Erik brings danger upon his loved ones… leading to a somewhat unsurprising plot twist and a passive finale.

I mention repetitiveness because despite building the story around the fairly original motif of hypnosis, the film fails to properly utilize it, thus consciously depriving the plot of a significant distinguishing feature. This unique element could have given the film its own personality and set it apart from other typical crime dramas. Instead, it contradicts its title, presenting viewers with an empty product based on generic formulas. Although I haven’t read the literary source material for the film, I have a nagging feeling that more emphasis was given to the motif of hypnosis there.

Furthermore, it’s noticeable in The Hypnotist the presence of too many characteristics typical of Hallström’s previous films. The fact that this director excels in melodrama was proven with The Cider House Rules or Chocolat. His artistic predispositions do not align with a genre characterized by darkness and tension. Consequently, The Hypnotist is imbued with unnecessary sentimentality, which dampens any remaining suspense. I feel that the only reason this author, after years of making films in the States, decided to shoot a crime drama in his home country was not creative intuition, but rather a desire to participate in a popular trend, which often leads to commercial success.

However, it must be emphasized that the latest film by the Swedish director is characterized by meticulous execution. It’s difficult to fault any of the technical aspects of the film. The same goes for the acting. But of course, that’s not enough. The script lacks integrity, and therefore The Hypnotist will be remembered as another distorted echo of the success of the Millennium series… an echo that pretends to be an original and leading sound. I won’t warn against being “hypnotized” by this film because, in fact, the only state it might induce is conscious indifference.