Danny Boyle can handle multi-faceted stories. He balanced social commentary and zombies in 28 Days Later, Bollywood romance and underground Mumbai in Slumdog Millionaire, drugs and self-discovery in The Beach, addiction and urban poverty in Trainspotting.

With noirish thriller Trance, the director tackles the subject of memory head-on. There is little subtext or distraction.
When Simon (James McAvoy) foils a criminal gang’s plan to steal Goya’s ‘Witches In The Air’ by losing both the painting and his memory, gang leader Franck (Vincent Cassel) employs hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson). Simon’s subconscious is a fragmented minefield, full of flashbacks and false memories.
Thanks to Anthony Dodd Mantle’s striking cinematography and Rick Smith’s pulsating score, the film looks and sounds like a slick and glossy thriller. However, there’s little tension. Ultimately, Trance lacks the courage of its convictions.