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Hypnotic, or the Hitchcockian thriller according to Robert Rodriguez
On the eve of the Awards Ceremony, the Festival de Cannes invites you to attend its last Midnight Screening with Hypnotic. The culmination of more than twenty years of work, this film by Robert Rodriguez starring Ben Affleck, William Fichtner and Alicia Braga is liable to give you a bout of vertigo in the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
After the disappearance of his daughter, Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) returns to work and finds himself investigating a series of bank robberies. He thus finds himself spiralling down a rabbit hole where events seem to defy reality. A male suspect, who seems to control the minds and perceptions of those around him, is likely the key to his child’s disappearance.
The screening of Hypnotic at Cannes is the culmination of work started over twenty years ago. Robert Rodriguez wrote several versions of the film while devoting time to other projects, among which are the films Spy Kids, Sin City and Machete, as well as videos for Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato and Haley Reinhart.
Over the course of his professional and personal life, Rodriguez slowly nurtured his screenplay, all while conserving the energy borrowed from his initial inspiration: Hitchcock and Vertigo. Next came the demanding development of a fresco with incessant twists and turns, which the director says is like “a thriller on steroids.”
“Hypnotic was always my favourite original story to write.”
Never has this complete filmmaker (director, screenwriter, producer, and film studio owner) allowed his imagination to run this wild. With Hypnotic, Robert Rodriguez and his team created an unsettling cinematic experience in which the footage, music, and editing take the audience to the edge of perception and reason.
