Right before joining her boyfriend and business partner (Herbert Nordrum) for an event where they will pitch a new female health app to investors, Vera (Asta Kamma August) is hypnotized by a therapist – and her behavior changes radically.

Artist Ernst De Geer’s directing debut is a seemingly Ruben Östlund-inspired take on a familiar idea: what are we able to do under a spell of hypnosis? In Vera’s case, she turns into a childish and uninhibited person, but the effect is startling and obnoxious, so how will her boyfriend, this well-mannered feminist, handle it?

Uneven, but amusing, with excellent lead performances.

2024-Sweden-Norway. 98 min. Color. Directed by Ernst De Geer. Screenplay: Ernst De Geer, Mads Stegger. Cast: Asta Kamma August (Vera), Herbert Nordrum (André), Andrea Edwards (Lotta), David Fukamachi Regnfors, Moa Niklasson, Simon Rajala. 

Trivia: Original title: Hypnosen.