The Hypnosis review – watch-through-your-hands squirmfest as woman loses inhibitions

The squirm factor is high in this dark comedy of social awkwardness from Sweden, ruthlessly directed by first-time feature director Ernst De Geer to maximise audience discomfort. There are a couple of scenes here so excruciating I would have found it less painful watching someone getting their fingernails prised out with pliers. The Hypnosis stars Asta Kamma August and Herbert Nordrum as Vera and André, a couple in their 30s who are the founders of an app that tracks women’s reproductive health in developing countries. Dressed in tasteful knitwear and limited-edition trainers, they look the part of startup entrepreneurs, and seem pleasant enough – though it’s immediately clear that André dominates Vera, who is quieter.

Things start to go pear-shaped when Vera sees a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. This is just before an important pitching event where the pair will be competing against other apps in front of big-money investors. At the session, Vera’s hypnotherapist gently observes that she seems to be holding back her true self; she should listen to her inner child more. And something inside Vera switches and she loses her social inhibitions – in a way that I didn’t quite buy into – instantly, and at full throttle.

At first, André enjoys his girlfriend’s new self-confidence, watching Vera stand up to her hugely successful, highly critical mother. But then Vera goes rogue. At the pitching event, she’s unfiltered and blunt, in a way that captures the attention of the tech guru in charge: irritating yogi-like Julien, played by David Fukamachi Regnfors. (The smugness of the tech world is nicely satirised.) From here, Vera’s behaviour becomes bizarre and downright rude: she walks around with an imaginary chihuahua, leans over a bar to pour herself a drink, then insults an investor.

All of this is deeply embarrassing to André, whose social awkwardness increasingly becomes the focus. His flailing attempts to cover for Vera and suck up to investors had me watching behind my hands. I didn’t laugh so much as flinch.

• The Hypnosis is on Mubi from 16 August.