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(Tantalizing thriller)

If you can figure out where this tantalizing thriller is going, you would be classified as a genius.

James McAvoy stars as Simon, an employee of a London art auction house who aids and abets in the stealing of an expensive Goya painting. The movie opens with an exciting heist that leaves Simon in the hospital with memory loss.

The gang leader (Vincent Cassel) sends Simon to Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), a hypnotist, in an attempt to find out where Simon hid the painting.

So far, the plot is easy to follow. But then we start learning more about Simon’s past. We know he was a gambler in deep debt, but we don’t know if what Elizabeth unravels while Simon is under her power is real or not. What follows is at times confusing and surrealistic, but stay with it as it unravels.

When we finally discover what really happened, as director Danny Boyle takes us back in time to take a closer look at the actual events, we are shocked and surprised. Things are not what they seem.

Rated a big R, with a few grisly scenes, violence, profanity, nudity and sex.