I firmly believe that if Robert Rodriguez's Ben Affleck-starring and Max Borenstein co-written Hypnotic Yesmovies had been pitched more like a comedy than just a thriller, it would have landed a bit more neatly. Affleck plays Danny Rourke, a detective whose daughter was kidnapped years ago. But now, a strange man, Delrayne (William Fichtner), shows up with information about a band he robbed and his daughter's whereabouts.

This movie has some pretty solid comedic chops. Affleck has a knowing tone at all times as if he's once aroused by the mere act of performing, but also incredibly dedicated to the absurdity that plays out in front of you for nearly 90 tight minutes. But meanwhile, Alice Braga, his most frequent scene partner, is always playing it so straight at every moment.

While some of the film's end-of-reference may perhaps help justify his behavior in the long run, I can't help but wonder how hypnotic it might be if they matched each other's tones more carefully. Do and succumb to cornballs. Or, at least leaned into Affleck, who was an intelligent man with purpose rather than just being determined, and Braga played his demeanor for laughs. Because I laughed out loud several times at some of the raunchy interactions between the two of them, and I was completely alone, because I don't know that anyone else in the theater was as invested in the hypnotic as I was.

The score doesn't really help anything. It's a relentless droning drama game with no defining characteristic other than its immediate implication that you must be confused, scared, and uncomfortable. And it worked. Only, I wish it wasn't so. I was in constant suspense throughout the film. Its central mystery is captivating, and the sci-fi concept that underpins the entire movie is one I won't even get into because to discuss it would spoil the experience one iota, I have to think entirely about real or fake. Uncertain was kept through the way.

But that suspense was baked into the fabric of the film. It would also backfire with a tonal shift from the overly dramatic to something more light-hearted. So much of the sense of drama and unease is driven purely by the score, while some of the plot or acting is absurd or hilarious.

Granted, there's a monumental tone shift about two-thirds of the way through the movie when its biggest secret is revealed. It was so drastic that for a few minutes, after it was revealed, I had to completely rethink my math about the movie. Was I wrong? Was it really a serious sci-fi schmoozer the whole time? But of course, by the final sequence, with an entire movie's worth of mediocre VFX behind me and Affleck's face with a freakishly squirming grin, I knew I had it pinned from the start. Hypnotic is a grade-A exploitation-esque film, buoyed by small choices like the score and Braga's very serious performance. It's not exploiting anyone in particular, so it's hard to understand and appreciate material that would otherwise be blatantly absurd.

Compelling borders on the absurd has almost all of its ridiculous twists and turns and does it all with a lead actor who, even if no one else did, understood the assignment. The sci-fi concept is actually really strong, even if the conclusion is a bit corny. But once again Hypnotic managed to restore my faith in the everyone-is-dads trend when a few recent incidents threw me off the train. It should have been considered closer to a comedy rather than a thriller. That slight change would definitely have given the film stronger legs to stand on and explain all the aspects that I liked, even if they were dull.