“What do you want?”
“Just wanna be happy again.”
“Then let me help you.”
Whether you believe in the practice or not, many have sworn by the power of hypnosis. Many have sought out this particular brand of therapy as a means to tackle their depression, smoking habits, addictions, weight loss, etc. — and in doing so, have turned their lives around. But what if the trusted professional with the power uses hypnotherapy not to help but hurt people — and maybe even hurt themselves? That’s what the new Netflix film Hypnotic explores.
A young woman, Jenn, seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotist, but after a handful of intense sessions, soon discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.
“It’s a sneaky thriller with big twists and turns,” Lucie Guest tells PopWire in an exclusive interview. “Hypnotic is also a film about grief, loss, and trying to turn a corner when you’re at rock bottom. And different characters are dealing with it (or rather, not dealing with it) in very different ways.”
In the Netflix thriller, Guest stars in a supporting role as Gina, Jenn’s best friend and ride or die, who wants to get her bestie out of the rough patch she is stuck in. “Gina is super empathetic, but also impatient,” the Canadian-born actress says of her character. “She knows Jenn is going through a personal tragedy, but she is trying to help her turn the corner — it’s been over a year and Jenn’s life has taken a downward spiral. Gina loves to help and she convinces Jenn to see her hypnotherapist named Dr. Collin Meade, played by Jason O’Mara. Gina has been having incredible results since she has been seeing him. She wants the same for her bestie.”
Straight from her starring role on the Netflix limited series Midnight Mass, Kate Siegel delivers yet another stunning performance as Jenn on Hypnotic. On working with the actress, Guest says the experience has been “a dream.” “I spent many hours trying to come up with movie ideas where we could play sisters or a remake of Thelma and Louise, so we could work together again,” she gushes. “Kate is a talented human and I really enjoyed working with her.”
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While Jenn works through her personal tragedy through sessions with Dr. Meade, Gina, on the other hand, tries to deal with issues of her own. Not only is Gina afraid of spiders, but she has possibly the most extreme case of arachnophobia. “My character is working on her fear of spiders, and she ends up in the worst possible situation for her,” Guest explains. “Basically her worst nightmare comes to life.” Fortunately, she works to abolish that fear with the help of her hypnotherapist. Unfortunately, however, Gina’s fear is tested in a horrifying encounter.
The arachnid was most definitely terrifying for her character, but as Guest reveals, Siegel wasn’t the only one she enjoyed working with. “His name was Harry, and he’s hairy… so it’s kind of an on-the-nose name… poor guy,” she says of her eight-legged co-star. “Harry is a very large tarantula with real fangs and eight legs… and I maybe fell in love?? He turned out to be a gentleman and a great scene partner. I think because he is so large and moves so slowly, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be? There were smaller, harrier spider options. I don’t know if I would have been as cool around them.”
Luckily, Guest had no problems working with Harry on set. Unlike her character, the actress did not need any hypnotherapy for arachnophobia. In fact, she shares she doesn’t need or want to undergo any kind of hypnosis at all. “Not for me!!” Guest says with a laugh. “I think people should do what works for them, no judgment. But, I personally don’t feel great about someone hanging out inside my mind… No thank you, please.”
Going into someone’s mind with malicious intent via hypnotherapy is such a unique concept we haven’t seen before in film or TV. Hypnotic is a mind-bending film, and Lucie Guests shares why it’s worth checking out. “If you like a thrill… ‘Hypnotic’ is a psychological thriller that is both dark and satisfying.”
Hypnotic is now available to stream only on Netflix.
