"Anna" Oh, Where Have You Gone?

The Trailer:

Director: Jorge Dorado

Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Mark Strong, & Brian Cox

Synopsis: A man (Mark Strong) who has the ability to enter peoples' memories,— known as a memory detective,— takes on the case of Anna (Taissa Farmiga), a troubled girl with a blurry past.

I had high hopes for this movie. The trailer looks amazing with an interesting story line, plus Taissa Farmiga is in it! And let me tell you I am a huge fan of Taissa's, ever since I saw her in American Horror Story. While "Anna" had it's moments of awe and wonder with such strange and luring characters, ultimately it failed with a plot that is so simple and predictable.

So we have Anna, a girl who is locked away in her room by her mother and stepfather. This is for her safety we learn, but as the movie progresses we begin to wonder if it's really for Anna's safety or for their's. Taissa plays this character seamlessly. At times she gives off an aura of beguiling innocence while at other times she is quiet, calm, manipulative and calculating. Then we have John (Mark Strong),— a memory detective whose work had become compromised due to his own traumas,— who takes on Anna's case thinking it would be an easy, clear cut assignment to get him back in the groove of  being a great memory detective. Mark Strong does a great job as the straight-faced memory detective, with a little too much compassion and concern for his disturbed patient, which will eventually lead to his downfall. Sebastian (Brian Cox) has a small role in the film as the catalyst that brings Anna and John together in the first place and also later helps John to realize Anna's true intentions. 

While the film had great acting and a subdued suspenseful mood throughout, the end is really what kills the quality of the movie for me. The plot is simple, as I said earlier and easily predictable, and yet the end seems like the writers wanted to add some "surprise" twist but ended up concocting an ending that doesn't sum up the movie. It didn't make any sense, no matter what angle you look at it and was poorly thought out. I was left with too many incredulous questions towards Anna's actions and John's complete lack of intelligence in response to her actions. The movie was good all the way until the ending. It's not a great movie, but it is good. 

Would I watch it again? Yeah, probably. But not for a long while.