Hypnotic is a 2023 American mystery action thriller film directed by Robert Rodriguez, who co-wrote the screenplay with Max Borenstein. The film stars Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, J. D. Pardo, Hala Finley, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley and William Fichtner. Rodriguez also produced, co-shot, and edited the film, while his sons Rebel and Racer Max served as composer and producer, respectively.

Hypnotic was released in the United States on May 12, 2023, by Ketchup Entertainment and Relativity Media. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $8 million against its $65 million budget.

Plot

Danny Rourke, an Austin Police Department detective, recalls to his therapist the abduction of his seven-year-old daughter, Minnie, which led to the dissolution of his marriage. Afterwards, he is picked up by his partner, Nicks, who informs him they have received an anonymous tip-off call that a safe deposit box at a bank will be robbed. At the stakeout, they witness a mysterious man give unheard instructions to civilians, bank employees, and fellow policemen, who seemingly follow his commands as he enters the bank. Rourke races to the targeted safe deposit box, finding inside it a picture of Minnie with the message "Find Lev Dellrayne" written on it. Rourke pursues the man to a rooftop, where he witnesses him command two police officers to shoot each other as he escapes. 

Convinced the heist has something to do with the disappearance of his daughter, Rourke investigates. Trace run by Nicks on the tip-off call leads Rourke to the address of fortune-teller Diana Cruz. After he describes to her the man from the bank heist, a client of Cruz's, under the control of that man, drives a motorcycle through Cruz's window before killing himself. Rourke takes Cruz into protective custody. She explains that the mysterious man from the bank is named "Lev Dellrayne" and that he and Cruz are both the escaped "Hypnotics": powerful hypnotists trained by a secretive government "Division" to control people's minds. Rourke is mysteriously immune to such mind control when Cruz tries to exercise it on him. Meanwhile, Dellrayne outside the police station commands Nicks to attack Rourke and Cruz, and Cruz then shoots him dead in self-defense.

Rourke and Cruz flee to Mexico. There, they learn from a former Division contact Jeremiah that Dellrayne is seeking "Domino", a powerful weapon developed by the Division, stolen, and hidden by Dellrayne when he escaped. Dellrayne then wiped his own memory and left behind "triggers" prompting him to gradually recall Domino's location and regain his own hypnotic power. Dellrayne eventually reveals himself to be Jeremiah in disguise and pursues Rourke and Cruz through a hypnotically constructed environment before Rourke taps into his own previously unknown hypnotic power, allowing them to escape.

Rourke and Cruz seek out River, a reclusive Division hacker, who discovers Rourke's wife, Vivian, in Division's database. Later, Rourke investigates River's database himself, and discovers that Minnie is Domino, the daughter of two powerful hypnotics: Rourke and Cruz (who is revealed to be Vivian). As "Cruz" interrupts him, Rourke realizes that the room and all of the events up to this point have been hypnotic constructs. He wakes up in a large room populated by Division agents, all of whom he has seen throughout the constructed story, including Nicks and "Dellrayne."

Vivian and "Dellrayne" explain that Rourke and Vivian are both hypnotics, and their daughter Minnie was born and raised within the Division, but that he escaped with her to stop her from becoming their weapon. Hiding her and then wiping his memory, Rourke no longer remembers where she is, and the Division has been putting him through constructs of the search for her to make him remember. Rourke is plugged back into the construct, where he repeats the session with his therapist and the stakeout at the bank heist. However, Rourke soon escapes using his own powers and flees as the Division realizes that "Find Lev Dellrayne" refers not to a person but "Deer Valley Lane": the location of a ranch where Rourke's foster parents have been hiding Minnie.

Rourke arrives at the ranch and is reunited with Minnie, who has now aged three years and is in full control of her hypnotic powers. The Division surrounds the ranch but it is all revealed to be another construct of Minnie's creation. Minnie restores Vivian's memories that she was involved in Rourke and Minnie's escape and that her memory was subsequently wiped so that when Minnie would be powerful enough to defeat the entire Division at once, Vivian could unwittingly lead them to her. Minnie forces the Division agents to kill each other, and she, her parents, and Rourke's foster parents celebrate their new-found freedom.

Later, "Dellrayne" is revealed to have survived the shoot-out, having constructed Rourke's foster-father to look like him during the fight with Minnie.

Cast

Production

Development
Robert Rodriguez had written the initial screenplay for Hypnotic back in 2002, calling it "one of my favorite stories". In November 2018, Rodriguez was confirmed to direct, with Max Borenstein rewriting the original script for Studio 8. In November 2019, it was reported that Studio 8 would co-produce with Solstice Studios, which had domestic distribution rights.

Casting
In November 2019, Ben Affleck was set to star. In May 2021, Alice Braga was added, with filming set to begin on September 20 in Austin, Texas. In September 2021, Hala Finley joined the cast. In October 2021, it was reported Dayo Okeniyi, William Fichtner and JD Pardo had signed on.

Filming
Principal photography began in Austin on September 27, 2021, and concluded on November 19 of the same year.

Post-production
In April 2022, Rodriguez confirmed that, similar to his previous films, he and his family members collaborated on the project:

Release
Hypnotic was originally scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States by Solstice Studios. In March 2023, it was reported that Ketchup Entertainment would serve as the domestic distributor after Solstice Studios shut down in late-2022. A "work-in-progress" cut of the film was screened at South by Southwest on March 12, 2023. Hypnotic was ultimately released in the United States on May 12, 2023, by Ketchup Entertainment and Relativity Media.

Reception

Box office 
Released alongside Book Club: The Next Chapter, the film made $940,000 from 2,118 theaters in its first day. It went on to debut to $2.4 million, finishing in sixth. It was the worst opening weekend of both Rodriguez and Affleck's careers, and was blamed in-part on the very little marketing done by the studio.

Critical response
  Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 69% positive score, with 44% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Mark Kermode of The Observer gave the film 2/5 stars, saying that Rodriguez and Borenstein "go on a thematic shoplifting spree, snatching psychic pushes from Stephen King's Firestarter, dozy psycho-crime plot twists from Primal Fear, and Philip K Dick false memories from Blade Runner, Total Recall et al." Danny Leigh of the Financial Times also gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "The mood is gun-happy and conspiracy-minded, but the real killer is what feels like 80 percent of the running time being spent with Affleck and co-stars standing in rooms explaining the plot." Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film 1/5 stars, writing, "It's sloppily executed, without a hint of dramatic tension."

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3/4 stars, calling it "An uneven, at times mesmerizing and dazzling mind-bender of a psychological thriller that plays like a drive-in movie version of a Christopher Nolan film." Glenn Kenny of The New York Times wrote, "The movie is, if nothing else, ruthlessly efficient enough in delivering its crowd-pleasing bits that truly starving suspense genre hounds, at least, won't necessarily mind." Brian Lowry of CNN said the film "becomes a little strained over its final act, but for the most part it's fast-paced and clever, capitalizing on Rodriguez's economical filmmaking style".

References

External links
 
 Hypnotic at Solstice Studios
 

2023 films
2023 crime thriller films
2023 science fiction films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s mystery thriller films
2020s science fiction thriller films
American crime thriller films
American mystery thriller films
American police detective films
American science fiction thriller films
Films about child abduction in the United States
Films about father–daughter relationships
Films about mind control
Films directed by Robert Rodriguez
Films produced by Robert Rodriguez
Films scored by Robert Rodriguez
Films set in Austin, Texas
Films set in Mexico
Films shot in Austin, Texas
Films with screenplays by Robert Rodriguez
Techno-thriller films