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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Grimm Forest in Tabletop Games
Apr 9, 2021
I am so psyched to be reviewing another board game based on fairytale lore. The Brothers Grimm material is such an enchanting (eh? eh?) theme and games can be taken in so many wonderful directions. Though I have never actually read any of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales (I know, I know), I have seen most of the movies based on the stories. I also know that the source material happens to be way darker than what Disney puts out, so when I heard we would be receiving The Grimm Forest to review, and not having really researched it much beforehand, I had a feeling it would be darker fare. But how dark does it go? Let’s find out.
The Grimm Forest is a simultaneous action selection, set collection, take that game for four family members of the infamous Three Little Pigs. As fantasy contractors players are tasked with constructing three houses as sturdy and quickly as they can. However, these contractors will have competition for limited resources, as well as the occasional interference from scary creatures and buddies of opponents. Like the baseball movie says, “If you build it, you will win the contract to build more stuff.” Or something like that.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, place the Location boards on the table for the Fields, Forest, and Brickyard (for a three-player game, as below). The First Builder Bonus tokens are placed below the matching Locations as well as the resources that can be harvested. One of each Mega Resource (5 Straw, 4 Wood, 3 Brick) are placed on the matching Location at the beginning of each round. The Friend and Fable decks are shuffled and placed nearby, as are the House sections (Floors, Walls, Roofs – Rooves?), and the Monster minis. Each player chooses a color and collects the Player board, Pig mini, and Gather cards matching that color. The first player is given the Starting Player tome token and the game may now begin!
The Grimm Forest is played over a series of rounds with each pig having a multi-step turn. Initially, however, the pigs will be deciding from which Location they would like to harvest resources by laying the corresponding Gather card from their hand to the table face-down. Once all pigs have laid their card, the Gather cards are flipped and revealed simultaneously. If any pig had chosen to also play one Fable card it would have been revealed and possibly resolved prior to this step. Players will place their Pig mini on the Location board they chose and then harvesting of resources may begin, unless a player has a Fable card that resolves at this point in the turn. If a Pig is alone in a Location they receive all resources currently found there. If Pigs share a Location then the shared minis will share the resources equally, keeping any remaining resources on the Location for the next round. If any player used a Fable card that activates at the end of the Gather phase, it is resolved now.
After the Gather phase, the Pigs will be able to take actions. On their turn, in turn order, each Pig may choose to perform two of the following actions in any order they wish (actions may be repeated except for Friend Special Actions): Draw a Fable card, Gain 1 Resource, Build, Special Actions. Drawing a Fable card is self-explanatory and players will keep their Fable cards secret from the other players. They may choose to play one of these Fable cards during the choosing of Gather cards portion of the beginning phase of a turn. A Pig may instead wish to gain one resource of their choosing and add it to their collection. As mentioned earlier, a Pig may also use their active Friend card’s (which is earned by building a Wall section) Special Action once per turn, should they have collected one earlier.
The true hero of The Grimm Forest is the Build action as this is what propels players to victory. Pigs may Build any house type they wish, as long as that type is not currently under construction elsewhere on their board. Also note that houses must be built from the ground up so Floors must be present before Walls can be built and Walls need to be constructed in order to hold up a Roof. Pigs may build these sections of houses by discarding the appropriate number and type of resources they have gathered previously: two resources for a Floor, four resources for Walls, and six resources for a Roof. Once a Pig completes construction of the first house of a type they will grab the matching First Builder Bonus token and reap its rewards.
The game continues in this fashion until one player has built three houses of any type, or multiple players have completed their three houses by the end of the round. Those tied players then check for sturdiness to break their tie: brick houses are sturdier than wood, which are sturdier than straw. The winner is the player with the sturdiest collection of houses, and then all players are invited to share a plate of bacon in celebration of the win (not in the rules, but I added that for… flavor).
Components. This game is chocked full of killer components. I do not oftentimes compliment boxes and inserts, but when a game comes with GameTrayz already, you know that the publisher cared a ton about the game. Everything sets up and tears down so much nicer and quicker with a GameTrayz insert that I wish every game would come with them. Yeah, I know, $$$. Outside of the insert (or inside?) the other components in the game are simply stellar. Everything from the card backs resembling book covers, the incredible plastic house pieces, and amazing minis, just makes this one sing when on the table. The art is done by the incredible Mr. Cuddington, and they are quickly becoming some of my favorite board game artists.
Wait, there are monster minis? But I didn’t talk about that in my overview. Well, yes, that’s correct. These monsters come into play from certain Fable cards, and when they are played it instructs the player to introduce the appropriate monster mini on the playing area. This can be done with such dramatic flair that you truly get a sense of dread that little piggies may feel. If you have seen Stranger Things (not a sponsor) and remember the part when the Demogorgon mini hits the table, then you understand how I introduce my monster minis. These monsters wreak havoc on the players and sometimes deny them resources, and other chaos to mess with pigs.
Overall, I am so enamored with this game. It has nearly everything I love about games. It has amazing theme and art. That is always big with me. The components are super high quality, as all Druid City Games/Skybound Games usually are, and the game is so smooth once it is learned. All phases and turn components work together well, and there are plenty of choices each player makes every round. The game comes with advanced rules and components as well once all players are comfortable with the base game, and I love when games come with that added complexity and difficulty.
I have nothing bad to say about this game at all, which makes me sad, because I can usually find something to improve with every game I play. Okay wait, I just thought of one: I appreciate that the player colors include both orange and purple, but then the others are blue and green. I think the player colors could have come with some different choices as I feel blue, green, and purple are within similar color bands. Maybe pink and aqua would be better choices for my taste? I don’t know, and I am sure research was done to decide on the player colors, but like I said, I needed to find SOMETHING to complain about.
So it is certainly no surprise that I love this game and rated so highly. I doubt it will ever truly break into my Top 10, but I feel it ticks all of my boxes for a great game and a 6 from me. Purple Phoenix Games as a whole gives this one a porky 15 / 18. If you are looking for a great game that is admittedly lighter, but gives great gameplay throughout, features incredible art and components, and offers opportunities for role-play then you definitely need to grab a copy of The Grimm Forest. I will be recommending this to so many gamers in the future, and I will be pushing the floor of the age suggestion on the box once my son decides he wants to learn to read. I think I am going to go try out the Advanced rules now, and remember: don’t eat an apple that a scary person gave you at the door.
The Grimm Forest is a simultaneous action selection, set collection, take that game for four family members of the infamous Three Little Pigs. As fantasy contractors players are tasked with constructing three houses as sturdy and quickly as they can. However, these contractors will have competition for limited resources, as well as the occasional interference from scary creatures and buddies of opponents. Like the baseball movie says, “If you build it, you will win the contract to build more stuff.” Or something like that.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, place the Location boards on the table for the Fields, Forest, and Brickyard (for a three-player game, as below). The First Builder Bonus tokens are placed below the matching Locations as well as the resources that can be harvested. One of each Mega Resource (5 Straw, 4 Wood, 3 Brick) are placed on the matching Location at the beginning of each round. The Friend and Fable decks are shuffled and placed nearby, as are the House sections (Floors, Walls, Roofs – Rooves?), and the Monster minis. Each player chooses a color and collects the Player board, Pig mini, and Gather cards matching that color. The first player is given the Starting Player tome token and the game may now begin!
The Grimm Forest is played over a series of rounds with each pig having a multi-step turn. Initially, however, the pigs will be deciding from which Location they would like to harvest resources by laying the corresponding Gather card from their hand to the table face-down. Once all pigs have laid their card, the Gather cards are flipped and revealed simultaneously. If any pig had chosen to also play one Fable card it would have been revealed and possibly resolved prior to this step. Players will place their Pig mini on the Location board they chose and then harvesting of resources may begin, unless a player has a Fable card that resolves at this point in the turn. If a Pig is alone in a Location they receive all resources currently found there. If Pigs share a Location then the shared minis will share the resources equally, keeping any remaining resources on the Location for the next round. If any player used a Fable card that activates at the end of the Gather phase, it is resolved now.
After the Gather phase, the Pigs will be able to take actions. On their turn, in turn order, each Pig may choose to perform two of the following actions in any order they wish (actions may be repeated except for Friend Special Actions): Draw a Fable card, Gain 1 Resource, Build, Special Actions. Drawing a Fable card is self-explanatory and players will keep their Fable cards secret from the other players. They may choose to play one of these Fable cards during the choosing of Gather cards portion of the beginning phase of a turn. A Pig may instead wish to gain one resource of their choosing and add it to their collection. As mentioned earlier, a Pig may also use their active Friend card’s (which is earned by building a Wall section) Special Action once per turn, should they have collected one earlier.
The true hero of The Grimm Forest is the Build action as this is what propels players to victory. Pigs may Build any house type they wish, as long as that type is not currently under construction elsewhere on their board. Also note that houses must be built from the ground up so Floors must be present before Walls can be built and Walls need to be constructed in order to hold up a Roof. Pigs may build these sections of houses by discarding the appropriate number and type of resources they have gathered previously: two resources for a Floor, four resources for Walls, and six resources for a Roof. Once a Pig completes construction of the first house of a type they will grab the matching First Builder Bonus token and reap its rewards.
The game continues in this fashion until one player has built three houses of any type, or multiple players have completed their three houses by the end of the round. Those tied players then check for sturdiness to break their tie: brick houses are sturdier than wood, which are sturdier than straw. The winner is the player with the sturdiest collection of houses, and then all players are invited to share a plate of bacon in celebration of the win (not in the rules, but I added that for… flavor).
Components. This game is chocked full of killer components. I do not oftentimes compliment boxes and inserts, but when a game comes with GameTrayz already, you know that the publisher cared a ton about the game. Everything sets up and tears down so much nicer and quicker with a GameTrayz insert that I wish every game would come with them. Yeah, I know, $$$. Outside of the insert (or inside?) the other components in the game are simply stellar. Everything from the card backs resembling book covers, the incredible plastic house pieces, and amazing minis, just makes this one sing when on the table. The art is done by the incredible Mr. Cuddington, and they are quickly becoming some of my favorite board game artists.
Wait, there are monster minis? But I didn’t talk about that in my overview. Well, yes, that’s correct. These monsters come into play from certain Fable cards, and when they are played it instructs the player to introduce the appropriate monster mini on the playing area. This can be done with such dramatic flair that you truly get a sense of dread that little piggies may feel. If you have seen Stranger Things (not a sponsor) and remember the part when the Demogorgon mini hits the table, then you understand how I introduce my monster minis. These monsters wreak havoc on the players and sometimes deny them resources, and other chaos to mess with pigs.
Overall, I am so enamored with this game. It has nearly everything I love about games. It has amazing theme and art. That is always big with me. The components are super high quality, as all Druid City Games/Skybound Games usually are, and the game is so smooth once it is learned. All phases and turn components work together well, and there are plenty of choices each player makes every round. The game comes with advanced rules and components as well once all players are comfortable with the base game, and I love when games come with that added complexity and difficulty.
I have nothing bad to say about this game at all, which makes me sad, because I can usually find something to improve with every game I play. Okay wait, I just thought of one: I appreciate that the player colors include both orange and purple, but then the others are blue and green. I think the player colors could have come with some different choices as I feel blue, green, and purple are within similar color bands. Maybe pink and aqua would be better choices for my taste? I don’t know, and I am sure research was done to decide on the player colors, but like I said, I needed to find SOMETHING to complain about.
So it is certainly no surprise that I love this game and rated so highly. I doubt it will ever truly break into my Top 10, but I feel it ticks all of my boxes for a great game and a 6 from me. Purple Phoenix Games as a whole gives this one a porky 15 / 18. If you are looking for a great game that is admittedly lighter, but gives great gameplay throughout, features incredible art and components, and offers opportunities for role-play then you definitely need to grab a copy of The Grimm Forest. I will be recommending this to so many gamers in the future, and I will be pushing the floor of the age suggestion on the box once my son decides he wants to learn to read. I think I am going to go try out the Advanced rules now, and remember: don’t eat an apple that a scary person gave you at the door.
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Nadya R (9 KP) rated The Butterfly Garden in Books
Jul 2, 2018
Usually I don’t choice book by its cover. But in this case, when I saw the book’s cover I was almost sure that I wanna read this book. The cover with its dark tones and eye catching red details is so stunning.* Then there was a brainstorming review that made me 100% sure I am gonna read this book.
The story is told my Maya. 18 years old girl managed to escape from a sex-addicted serial killer. He ‘catches’ the girls and make them live in the Garden. From first sight this Garden is a piece of Heaven- all this green plants, cliffs with waterfalls and brooks, but actually its a Devil’s place and the Devil is The Gardener. Rich man, craving for attention sociopath, he keeps his Garden full with beautiful young girls with breathtaking tattoos on their back. The tattoos represent butterfly wings and that’s why these girls are called ‘Butterflies’. They are going to share the butterfly beauty but their short life as well.
The story goes in two directions- the one, where two FBI detectives are trying to solve the mystery of The Garden and meanwhile leading Maya’s interrogation and the second one brings us back the house throughout Maya’s memories.
Maya was the girl who helps the new ‘catch’ the get use with the new situation they came with. Also she tries to keep all girls united. Except from the Gardener, there is his eldest son who also is aware of what’s going on in his dad’s secret garden. There is Lorraine as well. She is an ex-Butterfly who takes care for the girls and plays the role of their doctor. She is free of going in and out of the house, whenever she wants to, but also she is the perfect example of Stockholm syndrome so she didn’t even think about exposing her beloved one.
The Gardener is pretty conflicting character, though. Although he keeps girls in captive, for the outside world he is intelligent man, and big appreciator of art. He takes care for the girls, acts gently, with respect, but he expect from them, they always to be ready to greet him in their beds and to satisfy his sexual desires. From other side is his biggest son. He, in difference with his father, is evil and rude. He is one sadistic son of a bitch, trying to take all the benefits from the girls, as he can. The thing that makes him horny and turns him up is to break girls limbs, to hurt and even to kill them while he is f*cking them.
The wind of change came with Des - the Gardener lil son. He is good and loving, just like his father, except the fact that he doesn’t ripe girls and doesn’t like what his father and brother are doing at all. But after all he is son of his father and prefers to keep their family name nice and clean, instead of helping the girls.
From the very first page, the book held my attention and this didn’t change throughout the hole book till the last page. A horrifying story narrated extremely well. The adrenaline of the action kept me awake in the night, made me turn over the pages till I reached the last one. Maya is the perfect narrator- a rebel with butting tongue, she brings so much life to the book and her story at all. The biggest fault of the book is its ending. Seriously who can finish an amazing book like this in this stupid, discouraged way? It’s like the author just ran out of ideas (or deadlines were knocking on the door) and rushed the end. In the last pages there is a person, showed up with all the answers I need, but I didn’t found their answers because the book came to its end. I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw the book away and never ever look at it once again.
Despite the miserable ending, I recommend the books as something that everyone, who likes psycho triller, has to read.
* I’m taking about Bulgarian edition of the book ?
The story is told my Maya. 18 years old girl managed to escape from a sex-addicted serial killer. He ‘catches’ the girls and make them live in the Garden. From first sight this Garden is a piece of Heaven- all this green plants, cliffs with waterfalls and brooks, but actually its a Devil’s place and the Devil is The Gardener. Rich man, craving for attention sociopath, he keeps his Garden full with beautiful young girls with breathtaking tattoos on their back. The tattoos represent butterfly wings and that’s why these girls are called ‘Butterflies’. They are going to share the butterfly beauty but their short life as well.
The story goes in two directions- the one, where two FBI detectives are trying to solve the mystery of The Garden and meanwhile leading Maya’s interrogation and the second one brings us back the house throughout Maya’s memories.
Maya was the girl who helps the new ‘catch’ the get use with the new situation they came with. Also she tries to keep all girls united. Except from the Gardener, there is his eldest son who also is aware of what’s going on in his dad’s secret garden. There is Lorraine as well. She is an ex-Butterfly who takes care for the girls and plays the role of their doctor. She is free of going in and out of the house, whenever she wants to, but also she is the perfect example of Stockholm syndrome so she didn’t even think about exposing her beloved one.
The Gardener is pretty conflicting character, though. Although he keeps girls in captive, for the outside world he is intelligent man, and big appreciator of art. He takes care for the girls, acts gently, with respect, but he expect from them, they always to be ready to greet him in their beds and to satisfy his sexual desires. From other side is his biggest son. He, in difference with his father, is evil and rude. He is one sadistic son of a bitch, trying to take all the benefits from the girls, as he can. The thing that makes him horny and turns him up is to break girls limbs, to hurt and even to kill them while he is f*cking them.
The wind of change came with Des - the Gardener lil son. He is good and loving, just like his father, except the fact that he doesn’t ripe girls and doesn’t like what his father and brother are doing at all. But after all he is son of his father and prefers to keep their family name nice and clean, instead of helping the girls.
From the very first page, the book held my attention and this didn’t change throughout the hole book till the last page. A horrifying story narrated extremely well. The adrenaline of the action kept me awake in the night, made me turn over the pages till I reached the last one. Maya is the perfect narrator- a rebel with butting tongue, she brings so much life to the book and her story at all. The biggest fault of the book is its ending. Seriously who can finish an amazing book like this in this stupid, discouraged way? It’s like the author just ran out of ideas (or deadlines were knocking on the door) and rushed the end. In the last pages there is a person, showed up with all the answers I need, but I didn’t found their answers because the book came to its end. I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw the book away and never ever look at it once again.
Despite the miserable ending, I recommend the books as something that everyone, who likes psycho triller, has to read.
* I’m taking about Bulgarian edition of the book ?
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Home Alone (1990) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
It's not Christmas until Kevin says "I've made my family disappear." In fact, it's probably one of the few that I actively watch every year, and it's one of two that I'll happily watch at any time of the year. (The other being Die Hard... don't get on my case, you know it's a Christmas film.)
On December 7th Home Alone turned 28 in the UK. 1990... just wow. I'm feeling old enough without films I grew up with being called classics.
If you haven't considered your own Home Alone plan... well, what have you been doing with your life?! As a tip, if you already have a zombie apocalypse plan in place then it's very easily adapted, you just need a little less lethal force. And it's probably best for me to remind you not to actually try this at home, because I'm not convinced that Harry and Marv would have survived. (And if we take the results from Better Watch Out then you're probably looking at some kind of murder charge.)
In December they were showing Home Alone a few times at Cineworld so it would have been rude not to go at least once to see it. I'm really getting into the classic releases on the big screen, it's so much fun. The show I picked was basically populated by adults, just two children brought along by their parents. We were all roaring with laughter, the comedy never gets old.
The music of Home Alone is instantly recognisable and yet I always forget that it's one of John Williams' epic creations. You can't hear it without thinking of the specific scene in the film it relates to, and it's certainly influences a lot of films since. Something that again I hadn't really noticed until I watched the Christmas horror film, Secret Santa (review coming soon).
It always fills me with questions though... Do all Americans have telephones with cords that are about 20 feet long? How did Buzz manage to shove that entire pizza slice in his mouth? Why did Leslie ever marry Frank? Why is Jimmy in the shop so over enthusiastic? How does Kevin manage to create all his traps in such a short amount of time? And who on Earth leaves their house that tidy when they're leaving for holiday? Especially when you consider they left in such a hurry!
The idea is such a fun one, I can see why it's so popular all this time later. Watching it more and more though you do realise that Culkin's acting was pretty bad, but that just adds to its charm.
Watching it with a group of people who already love the film really made it a better viewing. We all laughed at the amazing prat falls from Joe Pesci on the ice and the walls of the cinema caved in slightly as we all took a sharp intake of breath as Marv stood on that nail. It's genuinely more fun to roar with laughter with other fans.
It's sad to think that Home Alone could never happen these days. (Although Google did bring us an advert that gave us a peak at what might happen. I've put the video at the end of the post.) Kevin probably has several smart devices that they could contact or track, the house would also likely be equipped with state of the art surveillance and alarm systems that would have alerted someone to movement and doors opening. On the flip side though it's quite fun to think about what sort of traps Kevin could be creating with the wonders of modern technology. I'd say lets get a petition going to see that happen but while Home Alone 4 was passable I don't think we really need any more of them.
What you should do
This should be in everyone's Christmas film rotation. If you don't watch it at least once a year... well... *shakes head*.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Everyone needs those quick inventing skills, but I'm actually going to go with Kevin's other superpower... his amazing ability to make epic ice cream sundaes.
On December 7th Home Alone turned 28 in the UK. 1990... just wow. I'm feeling old enough without films I grew up with being called classics.
If you haven't considered your own Home Alone plan... well, what have you been doing with your life?! As a tip, if you already have a zombie apocalypse plan in place then it's very easily adapted, you just need a little less lethal force. And it's probably best for me to remind you not to actually try this at home, because I'm not convinced that Harry and Marv would have survived. (And if we take the results from Better Watch Out then you're probably looking at some kind of murder charge.)
In December they were showing Home Alone a few times at Cineworld so it would have been rude not to go at least once to see it. I'm really getting into the classic releases on the big screen, it's so much fun. The show I picked was basically populated by adults, just two children brought along by their parents. We were all roaring with laughter, the comedy never gets old.
The music of Home Alone is instantly recognisable and yet I always forget that it's one of John Williams' epic creations. You can't hear it without thinking of the specific scene in the film it relates to, and it's certainly influences a lot of films since. Something that again I hadn't really noticed until I watched the Christmas horror film, Secret Santa (review coming soon).
It always fills me with questions though... Do all Americans have telephones with cords that are about 20 feet long? How did Buzz manage to shove that entire pizza slice in his mouth? Why did Leslie ever marry Frank? Why is Jimmy in the shop so over enthusiastic? How does Kevin manage to create all his traps in such a short amount of time? And who on Earth leaves their house that tidy when they're leaving for holiday? Especially when you consider they left in such a hurry!
The idea is such a fun one, I can see why it's so popular all this time later. Watching it more and more though you do realise that Culkin's acting was pretty bad, but that just adds to its charm.
Watching it with a group of people who already love the film really made it a better viewing. We all laughed at the amazing prat falls from Joe Pesci on the ice and the walls of the cinema caved in slightly as we all took a sharp intake of breath as Marv stood on that nail. It's genuinely more fun to roar with laughter with other fans.
It's sad to think that Home Alone could never happen these days. (Although Google did bring us an advert that gave us a peak at what might happen. I've put the video at the end of the post.) Kevin probably has several smart devices that they could contact or track, the house would also likely be equipped with state of the art surveillance and alarm systems that would have alerted someone to movement and doors opening. On the flip side though it's quite fun to think about what sort of traps Kevin could be creating with the wonders of modern technology. I'd say lets get a petition going to see that happen but while Home Alone 4 was passable I don't think we really need any more of them.
What you should do
This should be in everyone's Christmas film rotation. If you don't watch it at least once a year... well... *shakes head*.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Everyone needs those quick inventing skills, but I'm actually going to go with Kevin's other superpower... his amazing ability to make epic ice cream sundaes.
JT (287 KP) rated Trance (2013) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
"Amnesia is bollocks.” That’s the thought of one of four crooks tasked with trying to discover the whereabouts of a Goya painting worth £25,000,000 from the memory of James McAvoy‘s character Simon.
Simon, an art auctioneer has a problem, well he has a few in Danny Boyle’s latest mind bending heist thriller, Trance. He’s addicted to gambling and in return for wiping his debts clear he agrees to help steel the Goya painting from an auction house for Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his criminal entourage.
In an aggressive and highly charged opening sequence, which sees Simon describe various methods in which paintings have been stolen before from the smash and grab of the old school era to the more high tech, the heist is well under way.
Simon is in the thick of the action as Franck and his accomplices take charge, and as Franck is making off with the painting he’s challenged by Simon who receives a knock to the head rendering his memory practically useless.
After staggering about through all the chaos he ends up in hospital having his brain drilled and drained and any short term memory with it.
With methods of torture clearly not working the gang turn their attention to another, hypnotherapy, and seek help from Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) who attempts to guide Simon through hypnosis in an attempt to find out exactly where he left the painting.
And so begins a journey of discovery, deceit, greed and lust as everything is not what it seems and loyalties will be tested to the fullest.
Simon’s hypnotic journey takes him through the idyllic French countryside, to a church filled with stolen paintings to the slick London underworld as he tries in vein to piece together his broken memory, but what unfolds is not what he or any of us are probably expecting.
Simon, Franck and Elizabeth are all pretty interwoven as characters, it’s almost hard to work out who is playing each other off against the other, whose dream we’re in and at what level. You’ll find that you care about all three of them in a different way when something more is revealed about them.
The remaining trio of Franck’s gang are probably around for far too long than they need to be, but are removed for the final heart pounding third act, which accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack really intensifies the finale.
Trance is written by John Hodge and he’s reunited with Danny Boyle again having previously worked together on such films as Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, where at the crux of it all they too are heist films in a different guise.
Trance is well shot, Danny Boyle is in his element directing a dark, disturbing and at times a head scratching film, I’ve not had this much fun from a Boyle film since Shallow Grave.
Simon, an art auctioneer has a problem, well he has a few in Danny Boyle’s latest mind bending heist thriller, Trance. He’s addicted to gambling and in return for wiping his debts clear he agrees to help steel the Goya painting from an auction house for Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his criminal entourage.
In an aggressive and highly charged opening sequence, which sees Simon describe various methods in which paintings have been stolen before from the smash and grab of the old school era to the more high tech, the heist is well under way.
Simon is in the thick of the action as Franck and his accomplices take charge, and as Franck is making off with the painting he’s challenged by Simon who receives a knock to the head rendering his memory practically useless.
After staggering about through all the chaos he ends up in hospital having his brain drilled and drained and any short term memory with it.
With methods of torture clearly not working the gang turn their attention to another, hypnotherapy, and seek help from Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) who attempts to guide Simon through hypnosis in an attempt to find out exactly where he left the painting.
And so begins a journey of discovery, deceit, greed and lust as everything is not what it seems and loyalties will be tested to the fullest.
Simon’s hypnotic journey takes him through the idyllic French countryside, to a church filled with stolen paintings to the slick London underworld as he tries in vein to piece together his broken memory, but what unfolds is not what he or any of us are probably expecting.
Simon, Franck and Elizabeth are all pretty interwoven as characters, it’s almost hard to work out who is playing each other off against the other, whose dream we’re in and at what level. You’ll find that you care about all three of them in a different way when something more is revealed about them.
The remaining trio of Franck’s gang are probably around for far too long than they need to be, but are removed for the final heart pounding third act, which accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack really intensifies the finale.
Trance is written by John Hodge and he’s reunited with Danny Boyle again having previously worked together on such films as Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, where at the crux of it all they too are heist films in a different guise.
Trance is well shot, Danny Boyle is in his element directing a dark, disturbing and at times a head scratching film, I’ve not had this much fun from a Boyle film since Shallow Grave.
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