Ben Affleck has just directed, and starred in, a critical hit (Air). He’s about to appear in one of the buzziest blockbusters of the year (The Flash). Yet here’s an awkward reminder that as a leading man he leaves something to be desired. In Hypnotic, a would-be high-concept thriller, he’s mesmerisingly dull.
He plays Austin cop Danny Rourke, whose daughter was snatched while they were together at a playground. In the months that followed, his marriage fell apart. Look into Affleck’s eyes. We’re meant to believe Danny is in unfathomable pain. From first to last, though, he wears the aggrieved expression of a man who’s just watched his Lamborghini Urus get pranged.
