137. Trance; movie review

TRANCE
Cert 15
169 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, drug misuse

The first major story I covered as a young reporter was that of a girl who credited a faith healer with the return of her hair many years after her scalp was burned in a fire.
I was working on a weekly newspaper in the small town of Cannock and my words reached as far as the National Inquirer in the United States.
I was so excited by the.reaction to my article that I didn't look any further into the person who had allegedly changed the teenager's life for the better.
Faith healers are relatively rare in this country but there are many thousands of them in other countries such as India.
There is a clear conviction that they can achieve what medics or conventional religious leaders cannot.
Anwar Rasheed's suspenseful thriller Trance weighs in against those who think the healers are charlatans who exploit the vulnerable.
It also adds the dimension that they might be victims themselves.
It stars the superb Fahadh Faasil who plays Viju Prasad - a poor man who is desperate to make it big as a motivational speaker but can't get a break.
Family tragedy sees him hit rock bottom before he is given what seems to be the chance of a lifetime by two mysterious businessmen (Gautham Menon and Chemban Vinod Jose).
They have him trained to be a rousing faith healer who is a front for their conversion business interests.
Dileesh Pothan is terrific as the man who stays with the miraculous 'pastor' while he has to handle the fame which is unjustly thrown upon him.
Meanwhile, Nazriya Nazim is the assistant who begins to gain a conscience at the abuse of the fake pastor.
It is probably too long at two hours and 49 minutes but unlike many movies of similar duration, Trance had me rapt throughout.
It is a modern-day epic with a huge cast and great detail but the effort of the film-makers is entirely worth it.
Indeed, Faasil is so good - he shows why he is becoming a reason to watch a movie.
I was en-tranced.

Reasons to watch: Quality thriller
Reasons to avoid: Way too long

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? In a 2015 study, 88% of Indian hospital patients, visited faith healers more than once but only 2.12% of the patients reported improvement after receiving treatment from them.

The final word. Fahadh Faasil: "There was a child evangelist in the '70s in America, Marjoe Gortner. He later confessed how he was manipulated. There are a lot more similar cases. Trance is inspired by such events and not a single person." City Times

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