Hipnos

Well, an Spanish thriller that doesn't make you blush... that's a good beginning. As for the movie itself it is such of a dissection of madness, with an structure similar to David Lynch's universe but without the intensity and the fascination of the Canadian director.

A young woman (a doctor) comes to a psychiatric institution to fill a vacant. Soon some strange events will begin to happen and she'll begin to feel that something is wrong over there.

The aesthetic of the film is so white and aseptic (it reminded me of movies such as THX), mixing old buildings with ultra-modern technologies and decorations.

It is not the movie of the year but you may spend a nice time watching it (specially main character's great body -an unknown Spanish actress, maybe a debutant-).

*My rate: 6/10

"Hipnos" tell the story of a young and beautiful doctor Beatriz,who starts working with patients in a mental hospital.Soon she realizes that the place hides some dark secrets..."Hipnos" is quite similar to Mathieu Kassovitz's incredibly boring "Gothica".The plot seems rushed and is unoriginal,the pace is slow and some scenes are downright confusing.The acting is decent and Cristina Brondo provides some nice full-frontal nudity.The film looks pretty damn impressive,though.It's truly a shame that the plot is so dull and lifeless.Still like I said the nudity is always welcomed,so I was at least mildly interested.6 out of 10.

Spain, along with a handful of Asian countries, is like the new Promised Land for horror & thriller cinema, with a couple of multi-talented young directors that are active at the moment, like Jaume Balaguéro, Louis de la Madrid and – of course Alex de la Iglesia. I wish I could add David Carreras' name to this eminent list, but "Hipnos" is so far his only long-feature film achievement and… it really isn't that impressive. Carreras knows how to create a tense atmosphere and he can surely lead his cast members in the right direction, but the script – albeit very ambitious – simply lacks power and genuine thrills. I'm pretty sure that the large share of fans this movie has will just claim that I wasn't able to 'understand' the convoluted structure, but the truth is the events simply aren't fascinating enough. The story opens with the discovery of a young girl covered in blood standing over her mother's dead body. She's in a severe state of shock and doctors as well as police officers decide it's better to send her to Dr. Sanchéz Blanch's proclaimed sanatorium. He uses unique and supposedly advanced hypnosis to bring back the memories of amnesia patients, but the new female doctor Beatriz is about to discover that these techniques are endangers the patients rather then cures them. The first half of the film is rather compelling, since you constantly try to figure out what exactly is the connection between Beatriz and the mysterious institution. The main twist can be guessed rather easily, but Carreras ingeniously adds a lot of detailed sub plots and intrigue. Alas, near the second half of the film the red herrings become less and less effective and can no longer be bothered to predict Beatriz' complex fate. The dialogs suddenly get very tedious and the lack of spectacle doesn't really help, neither. Our young Spanish director was obviously influenced by the works of David Lynch, but still lacks his talent of maintaining the suspense and curiosity from start to finish. From a more technical point of view, "Hipnos" is a rather successful effort, with sublimely cool camera-work and fast-paced editing. Cristina Brondo is a devoted young actress and not exactly prudish, as she please the male viewers with several full frontal nudity scenes. Although no gem or a soon-to-be cult classic, "Hipnos" is worth a look and David Carreras is certainly a name to remember for the future of Spanish cinema.

A dark night, the police receives a mysterious message. A dead woman is found and next to her lays a girl in shock. Beatriz is a famous doctor that starts to work in a mental hospital specialized in hypnosis. While she studies the case of the girl, the little commits suicide, which will cause Beatriz to enter into a world where it is difficult to distinguish between reality and dream. The plot is interesting and at the beginning, the movie is quite catching, but, as the movie develops, it becomes clear that it has anything worthy. It becomes not terrifying nor thrilling, just weird and boring. As an opera prima it is, it's clear to realize that many scenes could be better filmed and the plot is maybe too complex for a newbie. Perhaps with more experience and clearer ideas, the movie could be better. The acting does not helps, too. As at any moment the actors feel comfortable in their papers, perhaps is the inexperienced director that makes this, as he is not able to transmit everything he wants to transmit. the directing its promising, but the experience makes the grade, perhaps in the future, he will make a good film. Let's wait for it.

When the young Dr. Beatriz (Cristina Brondo) arrives in a mental institution, she finds that lots of patients are committing suicide, apparently induced by the director of the asylum, Dr. Sánchez Blanch (Féodor Atkine). The patient Miguel (Demian Bichir) tells information about the place and Beatriz discloses surprising secrets.

The first sensation I had while watching "Hipnos" was a claustrophobic and discomfort emotion. The way the story is disclosed provokes bad feelings in the viewer. When the mystery is disclosed, I felt like watching a David Lynch movie, such as "Mulholland Drive", or Alejandro Amenábar's "Abre los Ojos", so weird the story is. I liked this movie a lot which I believe that it has a great potential of cult-movie. Cristina Brondo has an amazing performance, and the surprising final twist is excellent. I believe the next time I see this movie I will like it more. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Hipnos"