Conspiracy thrillers can succeed in two ways: by presenting believable scenarios that challenge our perception of the world, or by embracing the absurdity of their plots. “Hypnotic,” a sci-fi conspiracy film directed by Robert Rodriguez, falls into the latter category. Although it didn’t fare well in theaters, I believe it has the potential to become a cult classic. The film follows a tough cop (portrayed by Ben Affleck) as he uncovers a group of hypnotists responsible for bank heists and major world events while searching for his missing daughter. The story becomes increasingly outrageous, reminiscent of a blend between Christopher Nolan and The Twilight Zone.
In many ways, Rodriguez’s film is a tribute to one of the earliest and most influential conspiracy films, Fritz Lang’s 1922 masterpiece “Dr Mabuse, the Gambler.” In Lang’s film, the titular criminal mastermind, who possesses hypnotic abilities, uses occult forces to manipulate the global stock market. Alfred Hitchcock also contributed significantly to the conspiracy thriller genre, taking it in a more realistic direction with films like “The 39 Steps.” These movies presented ordinary individuals caught up in espionage plots, tapping into the anxieties of the Cold War era.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 further fueled conspiracy theories, both in real life and in cinema. Dalton Trumbo’s 1973 thriller “Executive Action” attempted to expose the truth behind the assassination, but it is now considered a mere curiosity compared to Oliver Stone’s “JFK” (1991). Stone’s film, a provocative exploration of assassination conspiracy theories, elegantly weaves together various narratives with a captivating style that blurs the line between fact and fiction.
The golden age of the American conspiracy thriller occurred during the 1970s, when films like Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and Alan J Pakula’s “The Parallax View” capitalized on the paranoia surrounding the Watergate scandal. These movies tapped into concerns about privacy, corruption, and political assassinations. On the sci-fi side, “Soylent Green” (1973) depicted a dystopian government harvesting people for food, while “Capricorn One” (1977) explored the idea of a falsified mission to Mars. John Carpenter’s “They Live” (1988) used aliens infiltrating the government as a metaphor for anti-Reaganism, appealing to conspiracy theorists of a different kind.
The 1990s brought a new wave of conspiracy thrillers that reflected anxieties surrounding the rise of the internet and terrorism. “The Net” (1995) starring Sandra Bullock tackled issues of online privacy, while “Arlington Road” (1999) delved into right-wing militia groups. Ken Loach’s “Hidden Agenda” (1990), on the other hand, focused on the British security services in Northern Ireland. However, the genre has somewhat declined in recent years, as real-life institutional corruption has become more apparent. Nevertheless, a revival seems imminent, whether or not hypnotists are involved.