If you’re living in the Northern Hemisphere you’re probably experiencing the gorgeous change in weather. Summer is finally giving in to the cold. Days are getting shorter, the darkness approaches quicker, and the bugs are finally going into hiding.
If you’re like me, you know this weather calls for cozy thrillers/horrors that don’t ask too much intellectual engagement but are enjoyable nonetheless. Enter Netflix with their latest thriller offering, Hypnotic, featuring the oh-so-beautiful Kate Siegel. (I will admit I have a bit of a crush on her.)
A young woman seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotherapist. But after a handful of intense sessions, she discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.
What I mean when I call this movie “cozy” is that it has all the makings of the perfect psychological thriller – from the 90s. It has a protagonist who is agonizing over something behind the scenes, a seemingly normal-looking person who turns out to be crazy, it has a well-meaning friend who becomes the antagonist’s tool.
Kate Siegel gives a wonderful performance, but even that can’t save the movie from being a mediocre thriller at best. She’s definitely the best part of the movie – I’m probably a bit biased here. But other than her, the characters seem pretty annoying. Especially Scotty, the friend’s husband. He seemed needlessly stupid – and also needless to the plot. Kate Siegel’s own love interest in the movie, her ex-fiance Brian, wasn’t much of an interesting character.
Overall, the movie is great for a one-time watch. Especially if you don’t go in expecting too much – which thankfully I did not.
