The Hypnotist – Hypnotists (2012)

Directed by: Lasse Hallstrom | 122 minutes | crime, drama, thriller | Actors: Tobias Zilliacus, Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Olin, Helena af Sandeberg, Jonatan Bökman, Oscar Pettersson, Eva Melander, Anna Azcarate, Johan Hallström, Göran Thorell, Jan Waldekranz, Emma Mehonic, Tomas Magnusson, Nadja Josephson, Ulf Eklund, Claes

The Swedish director Lasse Hallström has decided to make film again in his home country after 25 years and to do this adapting a novel by thriller author ‘Lars Kepler’; actually a pseudonym of the writer couple Alexandra Coelho and Alexander Ahndoril. Their debut novel ‘Hypnose’ became an instant bestseller and is well on its way to following in the footsteps of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, if not likely to match the sales of those books. A safe choice, then, from Hallström, who is best known for high-quality crowd favorites such as ‘Chocolat’ and ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’. Apart from the overall success of the Scandinavian thriller, the choice of a crime film does not seem to have been a personal necessity for the director.

‘The Hypnotist’ tells the story of a murder on a Swedish family. Father, mother and daughter were killed by dozens of stabbings and teenage son Lucas barely survived the bloody massacre. Now he’s in a coma, so he can’t tell the police being assigned to the case. Detective Joona Linna finds out that an older sister is also alive and fears for her life. Lucas is her only rescue and has to talk. At the hospital, the attending physician comes to his rescue: she calls Erik, a retired doctor and hypnotist who may be able to get the boy to talk.

Erik appears to have said goodbye to his hypnosis practices ten years ago, after an apparently false accusation of child abuse. Not only is his career in the doldrums; his marriage to the painter Simone (played by Hallström’s wife Lena Olin) consists solely of mutual recriminations, alternated by administering injections to his young teenage son who suffers from hemoglobin. He does not sleep without heavy sleeping pills and if he is unlucky also on the couch. Erik is persuaded to use hypnosis to extract information from the lone survivor of the drama. From that moment on Erik himself becomes entangled in the case and his own son is kidnapped, probably by the killer. Inspector Linna bites into the case and becomes closely involved with Erik and his family.

Hallström succeeds in alternating between the quiet private scenes with the main characters and the exciting parts depicting the investigation, with the occasional real shock effect in between. We barely get to know Linna, but is portrayed as a prototype inspector: an inveterate bachelor who even works on the case during a date, but turns out to actually have a small heart. The elaboration of the thriller part is absolutely tense at times – with the hypnosis sessions as a finding to get the audience involved in the story – but towards the end there is little surprising about it. The obligatory tension of the moment when Linna faces the climax all alone because he doesn’t want to wait for reinforcements doesn’t do much and the “all’s well that ends well” ending is downright superficial and sentimental.

This is reportedly the first film in a series about Inspector Linna, in which the strong actor Tobias Zilliacus, according to the producers, will hopefully continue to take the lead role. A further acquaintance with Joona Linna’s person is then a requirement, and a more sober Scandinavian elaboration without cliché Hollywood sentiments is recommended.