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Cast: Xu Zheng , Karen Mok
Ren (Karen Mok, SHAOLIN SOCCER) sees dead people, and it’s driving her mad. She’s also demonstrating psychic abilities, but psychiatrist Xu Ruining (Zheng Xu, LOST IN THAILAND) thinks it’s a hoax, and his radical new therapy could uncover the truth – through experimental hypnosis.
Exploring the mind can be dangerous. If Ren’s hiding a secret, neither of them are safe. But if her powers are real, the truth might even be deadly.
Xu Ruining is a psychiatrist who uses extreme measures of hypnosis to help cure his patients. He is cocky but for good reason because his approach really works. But when given a new patient named Ren who claims to see dead people Xu has his hands full. For starters he does not believe Ren's stories and thinks she is lying. But the more and more he uses his method the more confused he becomes. Is this all some kind of cat and mouse game Ren is playing or is there something else at play?
"The Great Hypnotist" is a mystery/thriller from award winning Director, Leste Chen who brought us "Eternal Summer" and “The Heirloom." This to me is his best film yet, to talk about the plot too much would only ruin the film for those who haven't seen it yet and I recommend avoiding spoilers at all costs before watching the film because it is the film's major twist that makes it a real gem. Right from the start you are sucked into the life of Xu and his world of hypnosis, and once Ren is introduced and the two of them have their battle of words you are glued to the screen waiting and wanting to know more.
The film is loaded with mystery and suspense, as each minute passes we learn something else new about Ren and her ability to see dead people, what I really liked about the film was the use of flashbacks used to tell Ren's story. The entire cast did a fantastic job in the film but the movie belongs to Karen Mok and Xu Zheng as Ren and Xu, they are both amazing in the film and they have great chemistry together which really helps the audience to connect to them and their stories.
Technically the film looks and sounds amazing, I love the use of the sets and camera work both of which really help in setting the right mood for the film. "The Great Hypnotist" is an incredible thriller that gets in your head and it stays there all the way to the end as you try to figure out what is going on. I have not been this engaged in a film in a long time. It plays head games with the audience all the way to it's big reveal which you will never see coming. I was absolutely floored by how good the movie was. I went into it with an open mind knowing the story involved hypnosis which could be very interesting but Director, Leste Chen really knocked it out of the park here. The film is in Mandarin with English subtitles but don't let that discourage you from checking this one out. It is the type of film you watch and are blown away by and then you run to tell your family and friends about.
Available on DVD now, you can order it HERE. I highly recommend this to all fans of mysteries and thrillers.
Released by Well Go USA
**** Out of *****