Alfonso Poyart’s SOLACE

January 25, 2017 Dennis D. McDonald

A movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

Most reviews of SOLACE are pretty negative. Yet I rather enjoyed this tale of a serial killer (Colin Farrell) pursued by an FBI team that includes a retired clairvoyant physician (Anthony Hopkins) who sees both the past and the future. The twists are that (a) the killer is also clairvoyant and (b) the murder victims are already fated to die horrible deaths from "natural causes." The killer views his actions as merciful. The FBI does not agree.

I know, it's silly. But it's fun to see Hopkins do his Hopkins thing once again. The rest of the cast is solid (for example, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the lead investigator). While admittedly the serial killer genre has been done to death -- ha ha -- there's enough of interest here to be entertaining.

Part of the fun is watching how the story plays with multiple versions of the future as seen by the clairvoyants. They don't always see how things are going to play out. That's a subtle reminder that even they are human.

SOLACE has enough drama and suspense to keep us entertained while nudging us to think about the ethics of “mercy killings.” As the movie makes clear through to its conclusion these are life-and-death decisions that we dare not take lightly. If you've ever participated in end-of-life decision-making for a loved one you'll know what I mean. SOLACE of course is just a movie, but there's enough on view here to make us think while we munch our popcorn.