The Guardian Angel
Release date: 2018-03-29
Votes: 52
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Copenhagen, Denmark, 1951. Criminal investigator Anders Olsen follows the case of a bank robber who eyewitnesses say appears to have been acting under some kind of trance.
Reviews
Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots
The psychological thriller “Murderous Trance” is based on the true story of the famed hypnosis murders that occurred in Denmark in the 1950s, where the court system found a man guilty for influencing a man to commit a crime. It’s a fascinating premise for a feature film, but director Arto Halonen‘s finished product is a dull drama that lacks that special spark to make it stand out from the crowd. Detective Anders Olsen (Pilou Asbæk) investigates a case in Copenhagen where a bank robber shoots two clerks and runs away with the money, but the cash has never been found. When questioned by the police, several eyewitnesses claim the robber was in a trance, making for the most peculiar investigation. It’s learned that the man spent time in prison with the charismatic Björn Schow Nielsen Josh Lucas), a sinister figure who is interested in mystical arts like mind control and the power of suggestion. Olsen beings to suspect that Björn may have hypnotized his fellow inmate to commit the crime for him, but his theory seems so absurd that it’s met with resistance. He enlists the help of a famous hypnotist (Rade Serbedzija) in a bid to uncover the real truth. The story is a great one, and the film raises interesting questions about the possibility that people can be hypnotized so deeply that they will act against their own moral code. Any narrative that deals with elements of mysticism is in danger of taking it too far, and the film gets a little hokey as it begins to rely too heavily on scenes of deep sleep and psychoanalysis. Its uniformity is tiresome, but the crime drama elements are intriguing. “Murderous Trance” isn’t a total misstep, but it isn’t the type of film I’d recommend you seek out unless you are fascinated with true crime or the science of mind control. Even then, you’d be better off picking up a book to learn more about the true story behind this movie.
Movie Recommendation
The 12th Man2017-12-25After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, a Norwegian resistance fighter finds himself fleeing the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.More...
Dobbiamo stare vicini2024-01-10There is no descriptionMore...
Rampart2011-11-23The story follows veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, as he struggles to take care of his family, and fights for his own survival.More...
The Hunter's Prayer2017-06-08An assassin forges an unlikely partnership with one of his targets: a woman seeking revenge for the murder of her family.More...
Alpha: The Right to Kill2019-03-28Set against the backdrop of the Philippines Government’s crackdown on illegal drugs, a SWAT-led police force launches an operation to arrest Abel, one of the biggest druglords in Manilla. Police Officer Espino and Elijah, a small-time pusher turned informant, provide the intelligence for the operation which quickly escalates into a violent and heavely-armed confrontation in the slums between the SWAT and Abel’s gang. Before the investigators arrive at the crime scene, Espino and Elijah walk off with Abel’s backpack full of money and methamphetamine.More...
Matters of the Heart2024-05-23A middle-class family, on the surface happy and perfect, are close to disintegration due to the father's escalating alcoholism. After several years of failure and broken promises, they finally give him an ultimatum. However, they must soon recognize that the solution rests on everyone's shoulders.More...
The Foreigner2017-09-28Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love – his teenage daughter – dies in an Irish Republican Army car bombing. His relentless search to find the terrorists leads to a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official whose own past may hold the clues to the identities of the elusive killers.More...
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows2011-11-22There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.More...
Bird Box2018-12-13Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.More...
Joker2019-10-01During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.More...
Oppenheimer2023-07-19The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.More...
Julieta2016-04-08The film spans 30 years in Julieta’s life from a nostalgic 1985 where everything seems hopeful, to 2015 where her life appears to be beyond repair and she is on the verge of madness.More...
The Last Duel2021-10-13King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire, Jacques Le Gris, by challenging him to a duel.More...
Vermiglio2024-09-19In the last days of the Second World War, a deserting soldier disrupts a tranquil and isolated mountain community. For one family, his arrival brings excitement and romance, but tragedy lies in wait.More...
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood2019-07-24Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…More...
Tolkien2019-05-03England, early 20th century. The future writer and philologist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) and three of his schoolmates create a strong bond between them as they share the same passion for literature and art, a true fellowship that strengthens as they grow up, but the outbreak of World War I threatens to shatter it.More...
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey2025-09-17Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.More...
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice2024-09-04After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.More...
Boss Level2021-02-19A former special forces agent is trapped in a time loop and relives his death over and over again. To escape the terrible situation, he must track down those responsible and stop them.More...
Midsommar2019-07-03Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.More...
Similar Movies
Driving Miss Daisy
1989-12-13The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.Shadows of the Peacoc...
1988-06-16The love story between an Australian woman and a Balinese dancer.The Straight Story
1999-10-15A retired farmer and widower in his seventies named Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.The Pianist
2002-09-17The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.Schindler's List
1993-12-15The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.A Beautiful Mind
2001-12-14From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.Sissi
1955-12-22The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, Yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.Sissi: The Young Empr...
1956-12-01Sissi is now the empress of Austria and attempts to learn etiquette. While she is busy being empress she also has to deal with her difficult new mother-in-law, while the arch-duchess Sophie is trying to tell the emperor how to rule and also Sissi how to be a mother.Sissi: The Fateful Ye...
1957-12-18After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.Erin Brockovich
2000-03-17A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.Bonnie and Clyde
1967-08-13In the 1930s, bored European-American waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with a European-American ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.Wild at Heart
1990-08-17Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.Monster
2003-12-24In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.Killing Zoe
1993-10-01Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.The Promised Land
1975-02-21In nineteenth-century Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion is shown through the eyes of one Polish town.Fire
1997-08-22In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.Our Eternal Song
2025-05-23Based on the true story of this miracle that delivered smiles and hope to the world, the love and conflict of each father and son, and the father and family who challenge the dream they once gave up are drawn by Tokuhiro Koizumi of the "Taiyo no Uta" and "Chihayafuru" series.Belle de Jour
1967-05-24Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.M*A*S*H
1970-02-18One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.Twister
1996-05-10An unprecedented series of violent tornadoes is sweeping across Oklahoma. Tornado chasers, headed by Dr. Jo Harding, attempt to release a groundbreaking device that will allow them to track them and create a more advanced warning system. They are joined by Jo's soon to be ex-husband Bill, a former tornado chaser himself, and his girlfriend Melissa.