Review of Anna (2013) by Faith D — 24 Jul 2014

The supernatural, sci-fi thriller Anna stars Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass) as gifted detective John Washington who has the unusual ability to psychically enter other people's minds in hopes of glimpsing a detail that might not always be remembered but is key to cracking a case.

After taking some personal time off following a tragedy in his own life, John takes on a new case involving a highly intelligent young woman of privilege named Anna (Taissa Farmiga - The Bling Ring), who has been accused of an attempted triple homicide of three of her equally posh classmates.

Tired of being maligned and eager to prove she is not a sociopath but instead a victim herself, Anna quickly warms to the detective and warns him of her step-father's (Richard Dillane - Argo) true intentions: lock her up and she'll lose everything .

.. making it all become his. Muddying the waters of the case, John discovers that his supervisor Sebastian (Brian Cox - L.I.E.) also had a patient-client relationship with a much younger Anna years ago when she was first abused (which nobody believed important enough to have mentioned).

What is hidden in Anna's memory that he must find?! The concept here is mildly intriguing but by film's end the writers had had too much going on here, there and everywhere as anything goes! It hopes to be an Inception-lite; but no .

.. it's nothing close.