Solace (4/5)

Solace is one of those movies that’s been released all over the world, but not in its native USA. Should that worry you? No!

Solace has an amazing cast, so why has it become one of those movies that end up being shelved for quite some time? Well, sometimes bad things happen to good movies. In this case, the bad thing was the fact that the production company ended up in serious financial problems. So, don’t worry, Solace wasn’t shelved because it was a bad movie, which also explains why it has been released in other countries, where someone else owned the rights.

This is the kind of movie that should have been in movie theaters as a big blockbuster, but sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles in Hollywood.

When you watch as many movies as I do – after all, we don’t just watch the movies being reviewed on this website – then plenty of bad or mediocre movies are part of the deal. That’s why I’m immediately suspicious, when I see an amazing cast in a movie that was produced a few years ago. And yes, that’s still the case even if financial problems were part of the reason.

That’s why I was pretty excited, when Solace managed to intrigue me pretty much right off the bat. It hadn’t even been running that long, when a delicious Se7en vibe became clear. Interestingly, the script for Solace was briefly considered as a sequel for that very movie. Well, until David Fincher (director of Se7en) shut down that idea. And I can see why. Even if there is a similar mood and vibe, Solace is a completely different beast.

Amazing actors and great characters

A big part of Solace is told via flashbacks and flashforwards. This is because we’re seeing things from the perspective of Anthony Hopkins’ character, who is a psychic. Still, it’s in a very constructive and scientific way, so the base for the plot is definately there. Also, Hopkins knows how to do a characters justice. So, you know, there’s that to ease your mind. From the beginning, we’re subjected to a lot of people being killed. However, these murders happen in the strangest way. There’s no real violence involved and the victims tend to die with a content smile on their faces.

This is baffling the FBI, so they’ve brought in a profiler, played by Abbie Cornish (Limitless) to try and make sense of it. More murders happen and that’s when Anthony Hopkins gets involved to work with the profiler. And while this could’ve been the usual off-beat dynamic of two people feeling threatened by each other, it’s the opposite. They don’t necessarily agree on the methods, but they do respect each other and want to learn from one another.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan (currently playing Negan on The Walking Dead) is the officer, who bring the two together. He has succesfully partnered with Hopkins in the past and is now working with Cornish. I’ve always adored Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and frankly, I don’t think he gets enough credit for his work. I’m sure this will change soon, but Solace could’ve already been part of that!

Colin Farrell is the unknown element of Solace, because it takes a while for us to truly know his part. I tried guessing from the beginning, of course. However, I never quite managed to get it right – though I was pretty close. And I had a great time along the way.

If you love the cat-and-mouse theme as portrayed in movies like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs (two heavy hitters, I know), then you should enjoy Solace as well, so give it a shot.

Solace will be out in US limited release and on VOD from December 16, 2016.

Details

Director: Afonso Poyart
Writer: Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish and Colin Farrell

Plot

A psychic works with the FBI in order to hunt down a serial killer.