''Murderous Trance'' (also titled ''The Guardian Angel'') is a 2018 psychological thriller film written and directed by

Arto Halonen Arto Halonen (born 11 January 1964, Joensuu) is a documentary filmmaker from Finland. He was also a teacher of cinematography in Joensuu between 1986-1989. In 2008, China did not give a visa to Arto Halonen to participate 2008 Summer Olympics. H ...

and starring

Pilou Asbæk Johan Philip "Pilou" Asbæk (; born 2 March 1982) is a Danish actor, best known for his role as troubled spin doctor Kasper Juul in the Danish television political drama '' Borgen'', and as Euron Greyjoy in the television series ''Game of Thron ...

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2001), '' Sweet Home Alabama'' (2002), '' Wonderland'' (2003), ...

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors ...

Cyron Melville Cyron Bjørn Melville (born 1 July 1984) is a Danish actor and musician. Early life Melville was born in Djursland, Denmark, to Scottish comedian Johnny Melville and Dane Elizabeth Bjørn Nielsen. Career At the age of ten, Melville gain ...

and Sara Soulié. It is based on a true story about the astonishing

hypnosis murders The Copenhagen hypnosis murders were a double-murder case in connection with a failed bank robbery that happened in Denmark on 29 March 1951. After extensive police, psychiatric and psychological investigations and the ensuing trial proceedings, tw ...

that took place in Denmark in the 1950s. The hypnosis murders is the only known case where the court has been able to prove a hypnotizer guilty and sentence him for hypnotizing someone else to commit a crime. Murderous Trance had its international festival premiere at the 34th Warsaw Film Festival in fall 2018. It was released in several countries during 2018–2020, including Finland, Denmark, France, Spain, UK and Japan. Nagra/myCinema brought the film to theatrical distribution in USA at the end of 2019, but it was cut short due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Murderous trance's North America digital release through MVD Entertainment Group is on 9 February 2021. During the film's premiere in Finland and Denmark, it provoked a lot of discussion in the media among psychiatrists about the possibility to hypnotize people to act against their own morals, and the specialists unanimously confirmed it plausible. The most reputable newspaper in Finland,

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

, published a comprehensive article in its science section about it. In the article Hannu Lauerma, an associate professor of psychiatry at the

University of Turku The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...

, stated, ‘In a continuous long-term indirect influence by suggestion you can make things seem other than what they actually are. In that state a person doesn’t consider oneself doing anything bad, but instead truly believes that the act is good and inevitable.’ The independent film award Gold Movie Awards nominated Murderous Trance in four categories in its Best of the Year Award in London in January 2020. Murderous Trance won Best Feature Film Award and Best Actor Award (Josh Lucas). The internationally produced movie was filmed in Denmark and Croatia. Halonen has also co-written a novel, ''The Guardian Angel,'' based on the same incidents. The book was published by WSOY and it has been translated into five languages: Finnish, Danish, Portuguese, Serbian and most recently to Italian in October 2020. Arto Halonen was one of the first ones who were able to find the hypnosis murderer , who had changed his name after having been released from prison in 1967. Halonen is also one of the few to whom Palle Hardrup agreed to give interviews. They first met in 1997, twenty years before the movie was made.

Plot

Criminal investigator Anders Olsen (Pilou Asbæk) begins to solve a case in which a bank robber shoots two bank clerks and runs into the streets of Copenhagen with the money. When arrested, he claims to have committed the crime alone. Some eyewitnesses say the robber seemed to have been in a trance, which makes the case even more complicated and peculiar. Olsen finds out that the accused has been in prison with the charismatic

Bjørn Schouw Nielsen The Copenhagen hypnosis murders were a double-murder case in connection with a failed bank robbery that happened in Denmark on 29 March 1951. After extensive police, psychiatric and psychological investigations and the ensuing trial proceedings, tw ...

(Josh Lucas) and begins to suspect that Nielsen had hypnotized his fellow inmate to commit the crime for him. But could it be possible – and if so, how can the true perpetrator be caught? Olsen seeks help from a well-known psychiatrist specialized in hypnosis (Rade Šerbedžija), with whom Olsen delves deeper into the world of mental manipulation. Absorbed in the criminal investigation, Olsen does not realize that the mysterious Nielsen has secretly befriended his young wife (Sara Soulié). Soon the mysterious case touches him closer than he could have imagined.

Cast

as Anders Olsen *

as Bjørn Schouw Nielsen *

as Palle Hardrup *

as Dr. Dabrowski *Sara Soulié as Marie

Production

The film was shot in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Release

The film was released in theaters in Finland on 3 March 2018 and in the United States on 6 December 2019. Related to Murderous Trance's North America digital release on 9 February 2021

visited the Talk and

the Drew Barrymore Show ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' (stylized as ''the DREW barrymore show'' and often shortened to simply ''Drew'') is a first-run syndicated American talk show hosted by actress Drew Barrymore. The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures and debut ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 6353036 Finnish thriller films Danish thriller films 2019 thriller films 2018 films Croatian thriller films English-language Finnish films English-language Danish films English-language Croatian films Films shot in Denmark Films shot in Croatia Films about hypnosis 2010s English-language films 2010s Finnish films English-language thriller films