This film is an atmospheric mess. It doesn’t know if it wants to be a supernatural thriller, a horror film, or a comedy. It contains elements all of these films but does a lousy job of integrating them. Structured as some sort of fable, Trance tells the story of Jim and Nora (Jared Harris and Alison Elliot), a happy couple off to visit relatives in Ireland in the hopes of taking time off to ween themselves from alcohol. Predictably, the relatives’ home is a spooky old mansion out in the middle of nowhere. It’s populated by a nearly blind uncle (Christopher Walken), a crazy old aunt (Lois Smith), and lots of things that go bump in the night. Upon arriving, Nora begins to experience intense visions that suggest the past life of a witch. Trance has a dark, brooding atmosphere but not much else going for it. There are long stretches where not much of anything happens. The screenplay is poorly written with unintentionally funny lines and intentionally funny dialogue that isn’t funny at all. The script could’ve gone through a few more drafts that might have resulted in something a bit better than what is on the screen now.
