Given Danny Boyle’s recent Olympics success and his elevation to status of national treasure, his return to the silver screen is a timely reminder that he is first and foremost a quality filmmaker. Trance is the latest entry in the Boyle canon, and stars James MacAvoy as Simon, the inside man in a fine art auction heist which soon spirals out of control when he receives a significant bump on the bonce and a subsequent amnesia as to the location of the stolen goods. What follows is a literal head trip as Simon’s criminal boss (Vincent Cassel) engages the services of a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) to try and retrieve the lost booty. The film plays out through a mash up of trances and reality as we delve deeper into Simon’s fractured mind to discover what has really been going on. Suffice to say, there are twists aplenty and Boyle expects his audience to keep up. There are similarities to movies such as Inception and even Life of Pi, but what most readily springs to mind is Chris Nolan’s superb Memento. Although Trance is not quite up there with Memento, it is terrifically enjoyable and Boyle extracts great performances from the three leads, all of whom are well cast – indeed MacAvoy is more of a natural fit in this role than in his recent outing in Welcome to the Punch. The star of the piece is actually Rosario Dawson who really shimmers throughout, in the same way she did in 25th Hour (alongside Edward Norton). Overall, this is a fine thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. Nice one Danny.