Jeremy Piven leads a low-budget British thriller as a celebrity hypnotist in Simeon Halligan's 'Past Life', a memory-regression mystery set in Manchester. The film also stars Pixie Lott and Aneurin Barnard, and follows a journalist who uncovers a serial killer's past through hypnotic regression.
Traumatised journalist Jason (Aneurin Barnard) is preparing to return to Syria, where he witnessed a colleague's murder six years earlier. On live TV, he volunteers to be hypnotised by Timothy Bevan (Piven), who claims to access past lives. Jason is transported to a hall of horrors and witnesses a stabbing committed by his previous self, prompting his wife Claira (Pixie Lott) to urge him to seek closure.
The film blends reality and memory with creepy subliminals, such as Jason's arthritis glove mirroring the killer's hands and a bluesman's howls heralding psychic eruptions. However, the plot becomes contrived in the final stretch, with Tim McInnerny's psychology lecturer complicating matters. The script fails to back up its insinuations of false memory or projection, leaving Barnard's performance one-dimensional.
Despite its flaws, 'Past Life' remains watchable, anchored by Piven's authoritative performance. It doesn't reach the mesmeric heights of films like Danny Boyle's 'Trance', but offers a serviceable Brit-pulp outing for fans of psychological thrillers.
