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Mix one of the most famous modern-day Hollywood actors with the man who directed 1996’sFrom Dusk Till Dawnand 2003’sOnce Upon A Time in Mexico. The result is an action thriller whereBen Afflecksuddenly has the powers of Marvel’s Doctor Strange — just on a shoestring budget. Oh, and there’s some family drama sprinkled in there, too. Two years before the mystery action movieHypnoticpremiered in theaters, filmmakerRobert Rodrigueztold Collider that he started writing the film close to 20 years ago (sometime in 2002) and that it’s one of his favorite stories.
If only he had known the end result of this production, not even surpassing one-third of its budget at the global box office, audiences ripping everything aboutHypnoticapart (even Affleck’s acting), and it turned out to be the worst wide opening for Rodriguez in his career. With a movie that had such a seemingly interesting premise, an A-list cast, and a world-renowned director at the helm, what went wrong? Is there anything we can take fromHypnotic, dust off, and say it was actually good?
‘Hypnotic’ Featured a Well-Known Cast
One thing is for sure:there was nothing wrong with the celebrity names featured inHypnotic. Alongside Ben Affleck, who played Danny Rourke (a police department detective with a tormented past), Alice Braga (Queen of The South,Soul) and William Fichtner (The Longest Yard,Mom) also starred in the film. Braga is Rourke’s (and the audience, for that matter) first step into the more science fiction aspect ofHypnotic, as she is an enchanter herself who comes from that occult-like field.
On the other hand, Fichtner plays Dellrayne, an antagonistic hypnotist who is part of a secret government project called the Division looking for a powerful weapon called Domino (which just so happens to be Rourke’s daughter who was abducted long ago). There’s also J.D. Pardo (Mayans M.C.), Dayo Okeniyi (Shades of Blue), and Jeff Fahey (Horizon Chapter 1). If you are a fan of the first two mentioned, you are lucky because Fahey has the least screen time compared to the other two — roughly 10 minutes toward the end.
‘Hypnotic’ Was Very Much a Cursed Film
While all of their performances convey a genuine love for the script (probably influenced by Rodriguez himself sincehe is a very passionate filmmaker),Hypnoticturned out to have one problem after another behind the scenes that played into its inevitable demise. First,the pandemic was a factor. According to the man behindMachete,Hypnoticwas not delayed once but twice (the second time because of the virus variant).
Then, one of the companies behind the movie, Hoosegow Productions, went to court against Chubb National (the insurance company backing the cast), alleging they never revised their pre-existing coverage with COVID protocols. After 11 months, the dispute was mutually ended, but by that point, pandemic woes had struck many of the production companies that were once working onHypnotic,including Relativity Media, Solstice Studios, STX Entertainment, and FilmDistrict (the last two being absorbed by bigger studios).
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In turn,this all led to Rodriguez not only filming the remainder of the movie in his personal backlot of a studio(which, in turn,slashed the budget), but he also had to call in his family members to finish the film — they did a satisfactory job, actually. In the same interview mentioned above, he mentions that one of his sons editedHypnoticwith the same video game engine used for NBC’sHeroesat one point. This movie turned out to be Rodriguez’s second least expensive, right behindEl Mariachi. Some say it’s a very poor attempt by Rodriguez to capture the other-worldly thriller feeling of Christopher Nolan’sInception(there is explicitly a scene with the world folding in on itself, after all).
Some Critics Found the Good in ‘Hypnotic’
Others call it one of those films that’sso bad it’s good.Hypnoticis somewhere in the middle. If Rodriguez’s first movie of 2023 had a proper budget, certain reveals could definitely have come across in a more drastic way. The Division’s base could have been designed better, as well as their outdoor “set.” Even the fewone-on-one fightscould have been done better. As it was, they were just comprised of tense stare-downs (that implied psychic strains).
The concepts themselves are imaginative, such as a government-endorsed hypnotic ring and constant environmental deceptions that leave the viewer questioning everything. . . but it’s all wasted by a paint-by-numbers dialogue that cannot be excused. At one point, Affleck’s character forcibly dumps exposition, which takes even the most tranced audience member right out of the spell of this movie. There isalso no chemistrybetween Affleck and Braga — what Rodriguez possibly saw between them is a mystery to us all.
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Aside from the abysmal gross, critics did seem to find some good words to say aboutHypnoticwhen it was first released (among their otherwise negative write-ups). These few remarks might have been the precursor to the movie’s better-than-average Rotten Tomatoes audience rating. “The mood is gun-happy and conspiracy-minded” or “for the most part it’s fast-paced and clever” are a few of the more positive notes that show that not all is bad with this one.Hypnoticis certainly salvageable, but only if you look past its mind-numbing mistakes.Hypnoticis streaming onPeacock.
