Review: Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck as a cop, soon turns strange

If you're hanging out for the next Christopher Nolan mind-screw, Robert (Sin City) Rodriguez's new film as director and co-writer might help fill the gap.

It starts off in familiar territory. Danny Rourke (Ben Affleck) is an Austin, Texas police detective with demons. His young daughter Minnie disappeared when his attention was momentarily distracted at the park, leading to the breakdown of his marriage and endless guilt and wondering.

Work is all he has now and his partner Nicks (J.D. Pardo) picks him up from a therapy session to stake out a bank. The police have been tipped off that a safety deposit box there will be robbed so the surveillance begins - a van, cameras, mics, the works. You know the drill (at least as it's presented in movies and on television).

As soon as William Fichtner appears, you know he's going to be involved somehow - and not in a good way. Fichtner is one of those character actors whose face is very familiar and perfect to play unsettling characters (as in Elysium).

The mystery man walks up to people and after the briefest of interactions they seem to act under his influence. No prizes for guessing for what's going on there - see the title.

Yes, this is hypnotism, but not, it seems, in a therapeutic way or even a theatrical "imitate an animal" way, more in a "Mandrake gestures hypnotically" way, instantaneously powerful.

Wouldn't we all like to be able to get people to do our bidding so easily?

Danny goes into the bank and to the targeted safety deposit box which contains a photo of his daughter with the words "Find Lev Delrayne" written on it. Mayhem and killings follow and the man behind it all escapes.

When the tipster's phone number is traced, Danny pays her a visit. She is Diana (Alice Braga), a fortune teller and tarot card reader in a seedy little shop. But she knows something and is recruited to help Danny in his double quest, to find the mystery man behind the bank incident and, with the new clue, find out what happened to his daughter.

The hypnotism aspect adds an interesting wrinkle to what otherwise starts off like a pretty standard mystery/crime story - but soon the story gets even stranger.

I won't reveal any more - let's just say that some things that don't seem to make sense when they happen become (somewhat) clearer as the film progresses.

Affleck is a little glum but, of course, he's playing a guy who's understandably depressed so it makes sense. Braga (who was also in Elysium) is livelier and so is Pardo.

Among the supporting cast are familiar faces like Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man, TV's Lost) and Jackie Earl Haley (The Bad News Bears, Little Children) and their recognisability is a help as the goings-on get more complicated.

As well as Nolan's movies, Hypnotic is also reminiscent of others including Shutter Island and The Manchurian Candidate (the 1962 original, not the disappointing remake) but has its own surprises so if you like a movie that rewards attentive viewers, give it a go.

Stay in your seat for a mid-credits scene that adds yet another twist (as if there weren't enough already) and possibly sets up a sequel.

There's another mystery in Hypnotic: why does the title appear on screen four separate times? I know some films have the title appear more than once but as far as I can recall this is the most I've ever seen. If anyone knows why this happens, please let me know.