Hipnos (2004)

This one was a nice surprise! I really appreciate little films like these. A very tight Spannish psychological thriller, very stylish and well thought out (both story-wise and technically, with great shots and angles). A young woman (doctor) gets accepted to go and work in a mental institute. Things are not quite what they seem in there, and it doesn't take long before patients start to die. The first half of the movie indeed moves rather slow. And after that, things get really weird (the films of David Lynch come to mind). But in the end you get a plausible explanation, so the movie itself never derails. When you look at it afterwards, then you might figure out the explanation in the end yourself. But "Hipnos" does a very good job to keep the truth hidden until the final scenes. I say this one is certainly worth seeing. And yes, I'm generous in my rating, but there's just too many real crappy films on DVD out there. This one's absolutely not one of those.

This film is a Spanish thriller about madness and denial of reality… When you live a shocking event which deeply affect your emotional stability, your brain has the tendency to reject it, deny it, and sometimes to forget it, either you want it or not… It's a natural instinct. This is the main topic of this movie.The entire film is greatly shot and has a fantastic cinematography, which combines the surreal with the artsy, in great scenarios and camera shots. The plot is involved in mystery since the beginning and the effect of the flashbacks, the white and minimal scenarios, and the whispering voices repeating what was said, like echoes, give it the surreal and sometimes almost lunatic ambiance… The plot is confusing, complex, and not easy to understand; at least until the last five minutes, where the explanations are given, and then all makes sense…There's one sentence in the movie which I appreciated and I think that resumes it very well: "Madness is the eruption of dreams in reality. The bad thing is that you can't distinguish them…"

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

First of all i've to tell you that i'm studying in madrid, where i saw the movie and i don't speak Spanish very good but... i think i can make a review. i'm a real movie buff, and i really enjoyed the camera work and atmosphere, setting of the movie. the story IS kind of weird but the pieces will fall together at the end of the movie. if you like suspense movies, and some topclass movie techniques you should go and see this movie. see it for yourself (we were with the 3 of us, my 2 friends almost had left the theater...)I rate it 7