Hypnotic is the very definition of a mixed bag and for every cool and innovative choice it makes, it makes once that’s equally frustrating or has you scratching your head in confusion. The first act of this is genuinely really solid and sets up its central mystery quite well while keeping your interest in trying to figure out what’s exactly going on and why. After the opening act, it does start to lose steam and becomes overly convoluted as it features far too many scenes of characters dumping exposition to the audience so that they don’t get lost in the plot. Scenes like that become far more frequent as the film progresses and it becomes rather frustrating that you’re being told all of this rather than shown. While I did enjoy one of the major reveals, this features numerous twists and turns that often come off as a bit silly and far fetched even with the story it’s telling and your reaction to those reveals will play a big part on if you enjoy the ridiculous third act to this or not.

While it’s hard to say Hypnotic is all that good, it’s consistently entertaining and very easy to watch especially with it’s brisk 93-minute runtime and fast-pace. It’s nice to see Ben Affleck in a schlocky sci-fi action thriller like this and how different it is from the roles he’s been playing as of late. Affleck easily gives the best performance in the film and works quite well with Alice Braga, who’s also solid. William Fichtner is another major standout as the main villain despite not getting a ton to work with. None of the action is anything overly memorable but it proves Robert Rodriguez still knows how to helm a half decent action set piece particularly the opening bank robbery and a motorcycle chase halfway in.

This is a great idea on paper and is thankfully very watchable, but there’s no denying the execution could’ve been a lot better, and this story should’ve been told with a lot more energy and style especially coming from someone like Rodriguez. This feels like something that would’ve came out in the 90’s or 2000’s and your enjoyment will entirely depend on if you think that’s a good thing or not. It’s nice to see something like this exist and get released in theatres instead of getting dumped on streaming like it easily could’ve, but it’s tough to fully recommend. If it’s something you’re interested in, then it’s at least worth seeing at matinee price or once it’s available to rent for a non premium price.