Hypnotic ending explained: Ben Affleck teases you have to watch film twice
Affleck stars as a detective in the enigmatic thriller from Robert Rodriguez.
Ben Affleck has teased fans that they may have to watch his new mystery thriller Hypnotic twice before they truly understand everything that happens.
The film – which is directed by Sin City's Robert Rodriguez – stars Affleck as a detective whose search for his missing daughter leads him down a confusing rabbit hole that sees him lean on the support of a gifted psychic.
And, speaking ahead of the UK release, Affleck said of his character: "This is someone who the audience thinks is one kind of person and then makes these discoveries about as the movie goes on, so I kind of get to take advantage of the fact that I'm playing my own vision of what someone like this character would be."
Discussing the complexity of the film's narrative, he added: "It's hard to explain exactly, except that Robert's really smart and understands movies really well, and because he's written a multi-layered script where you have one layer of reality and then you reveal another level of reality and then another level of reality, you really can't appreciate the whole movie entirely until you watch it the second time.
"Because there's so much of it that might seem a little off or a little strange or disconcerting, and then later on you understand why it is that way. And I really like the complicated, multi-layered aspect of it."
More like this
If you've watched the film and have been left a little confused by it's complicated conclusion, read on to have the Hypnotic ending explained.
**CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HYPNOTIC**
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Hypnotic ending explained
The big twist that happens at the end of the movie reveals that the world Affleck's character Danny Rourke has been living in is not actually real – at least not in a technical sense.
Instead – as the title rather hints at – he had been living in a state of hypnosis for the duration of the film: he was not really a detective and the mystery he was trying to solve about his daughter's whereabouts was not actually based on reality.
The truth of the matter was that he and his wife had deliberately had their memories of their past wiped in an effort to protect their daughter, who had been wanted by a shady organisation that thought they could harness her hypnotic powers.
It was this organisation that had placed Danny under hypnosis, with the rest of the film essentially a ruse intended to get Danny to spill her whereabouts, although they are not successful in their aim.
Instead, Danny eventually manages to work out what is going on and shake himself out of hypnosis before leading the villains into his own trap – traveling towards where his daughter Minnie (Hala Finley) is hiding and letting them follow.
The thing is, it turns out Minnie has even greater hypnotic powers than the organisation had suspected, and she uses her strengths to make them turn on each other, with a mass bloodbath following as they all shoot one another, with chief antagonist Dellrayne appearing to die in the bedlam.
Only, it turns out during a mid-credits sequence, Dellrayne had actually faked his own death using his powers – and so the happy ending hinted at for Danny and Minnie might not be as final as it initially appeared...
Hypnotic is now showing in UK cinemas. Read more of our Film coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
