Mindscape (2013) Mark Strong, Taissa Farmiga, Saskia Reeves, Richard Dillane Movie Review

Mindscape (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Taissa Farmiga in Mindscape (2013)

Strong Mind Games

John Washington (Mark Strong) was once one of the best memory detectives, a gifted man who can insert himself in to people's memories to encounter what they remember. But a series of events and traumas lead to him retiring, only now with money running out does he return to Mindscape, the company run by Sebastian (Brian Cox) which specialises in memory detective work. Sebastian sends him to help a young girl called Anna (Taissa Farmiga) who has refused to eat and has a difficult relationship with her stepfather Robert (Richard Dillane). But what seems quite a straight forwards job becomes a lot more intriguing and challenging when secrets start to come out.

Yet again "Mindscape" is one of those movies where the less you know about it before you sit down to watch the better it will be. But of course that makes my job as a movie reviewer difficult because I don't plan to give away anything too revealing in this review yet that means I am limited in what I can say. What I will say is that this is one of those movies which start off on one track as we encounter John and his ability to enter people's minds but it evolves to be much more than that. And that all leads you to wonder whether what we are watching is real or dream and whether or not that memory happened or is it a clever construct. And without giving anything away "Mindscape" is constructed in such a way that it draws you in to this what is real and what isn't set up.

Mark Strong in Mindscape (2013)

What helps no end is the casting of "Mark Strong" as he brings different layers to the character of John giving him a mix of strong, intellectual but still a little fragile as if it wouldn't take much for him to lose it despite seeming to be sensible and in control And then you have Taissa Farmiga who has this slight weirdness going on to make her character intriguing, never allowing us to be comfortable with what we know about her and doubting how she comes across.

What this all boils down to is that "Mindscape" is one of those movies which you will have to trust me on when I say it is worth watching because the less you know about what goes on the more intriguing it becomes. But if you enjoy movies where all is not as it seems as you begin to question whether what you see is real or dream then this should entertain.


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