While on time for the onslaught of horror and thriller movies released for Halloween, “Hypnotic” drops the ball on its interesting premise with its poor writing and pacing.

“Hypnotic” follows Jenn Tompson (Kate Siegel), a washed up software engineer in between jobs who begins to attend hypnotherapy sessions with Dr. Meade (Jason O’Mara), her friend Gina’s (Lucie Guest) therapist.

As she experiences worrying gaps in her memory, she begins to question Dr. Meade’s true motives after she awakes to her ex-fiance in the midst of a severe allergic reaction that she seemingly caused.

Though she has no recollection of even hosting the dinner.

The faults of the movie do not lie with the actors, who did a fine job with what they were given. 

Siegel, known for her impressive performances in multiple Netflix series, such as “The Haunting of Bly Manor” and “Midnight Mass,” did an excellent job playing the self-destructive and self-aware Jenn.

Likewise, O’Mara excelled as the manipulative and downright creepy Meade.

The cinematography also did an incredible job at leaving viewers just as lost and on edge as Jenn is throughout the film, with abrupt changes and cuts only adding fuel to the fire.

The fault lies in poor writing.

“Hypnotic” has an incredibly promising premise in hypnosis gone wrong, but the writers seem to be in a hurry to reach the end as quickly as possible, with only select narrative threads being fleshed out along the way.

Jenn goes from trusting Meade to conducting a background check in the blink of an eye, her friend Gina is convinced by Jenn of the danger Meade poses after a brief conversation, and so many other moments just leave the viewer dazed. 

The ending is even a one month time skip after the final, climactic chase, leaving many questions unanswered.

“Hypnotic” feels entirely too generic when hypnosis gives so much breadth in its ability to play with reality and the limitless subconscious. It plays out like a typical thriller, only salvaged by its cast and cinematography.

This movie is a good choice for those who want a played-out thriller plot to eat some snacks to. But for those with high standards, “Hypnotic” is utterly underwhelming and fails to rise to its potential.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5