Solace is a film that takes a promising premise — a psychic doctor hunting a killer who can see the future — and spends nearly two hours doing almost nothing with it. The 2015 thriller, directed by Afonso Poyart, stars Anthony Hopkins as Dr. John Clancy, a psychic who can glimpse possible futures by touching people, and Colin Farrell as Charles Ambrose, the serial killer who can see those same visions. Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays FBI Agent Joe Merriwether, and Abbie Cornish plays Agent Katherine Cowles, the criminal psychologist working the case. The film runs 101 minutes and was released on December 16, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere.
The problem is not the setup. The problem is execution. The film is slow, repetitive, and almost entirely talky, with long stretches devoted to characters explaining the rules of psychic vision to each other rather than letting the rules drive the story forward.
Trailer, via QuantumOfSolace.
The Premise That Should Have Worked
Clancy’s power is simple to state but hard to sustain over a full feature. By touching a person, he sees possible futures, not fixed ones. That distinction matters because it means the killer and the psychic are both reading the same set of possibilities. The film tries to build tension around this idea, but the effort mostly fails.
The killer, Charles Ambrose, claims he is sparing his victims from slow deaths by killing them out of mercy. That’s a moral position, and the film leans on it heavily. But the argument is never made with any force. Ambrose’s killings are brutal, but the film doesn’t let the audience sit with the weight of his logic. It just states it and moves on.
Hopkins and Farrell, Underused
Anthony Hopkins is one of the great actors of his generation, and he brings genuine menace to Clancy’s isolation. His performance is the film’s best reason to watch. Colin Farrell is also strong as Ambrose, though his character is less interesting because the film doesn’t give him a fair chance to be complicated. The two leads are talented enough to elevate a better script, but they don’t get one.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Abbie Cornish round out the main cast as the agents driving the investigation. Their scenes together are the most functional parts of the film, but even they can’t overcome the broader narrative weaknesses.
What Works, What Doesn’t
There are moments where the film clicks. Clancy’s visions of blood spilling down Katherine’s forehead are genuinely unsettling, and the film’s best stretch comes when Clancy intercepts Ambrose as he poisons a victim. Those scenes show what the premise could do with a tighter script.
But the middle section drags badly. The film spends too much time having characters explain psychic theory to each other. The killer’s plan is revealed early, and the final confrontation is telegraphed well in advance. Nothing about the last act feels earned.
The Worst Parts
- The pacing in the second half, where the film slows to a crawl while explaining itself.
- The killer’s moral justification, which is stated rather than argued.
- The final subway confrontation, which feels like a shrug after everything that came before it.
Where It Went Wrong
The film was originally planned as a sequel to Se7en, the 1995 thriller. That history shows in the tone, which leans on grim, procedural dread. But the sequel idea was scrapped, and the film was rebuilt as a standalone project. The result is a movie that never quite commits to being either a horror film or a crime thriller. It hovers uneasily between the two, and neither mode is served well.
The script’s biggest failure is its inability to generate stakes. The killer’s victims are all terminally ill, which should make every scene feel urgent. Instead, the film treats the illness as a background detail rather than a central tragedy. The audience is never asked to feel for the people being killed.
A Better Way Forward
If the filmmakers had treated the psychic premise as a tool rather than a destination, the film might have worked. Clancy’s visions could have driven the investigation, forcing the characters to act based on glimpses of what might happen next. The killer’s ability to see the same futures could have created a cat-and-mouse game where neither side knows which path the other will take.
Instead, the film treats the visions as a trick to be explained and then forgotten. The audience is told what the powers mean, but rarely shown them in action.
The Running Order
| Scene | Time |
|---|---|
| Merriwether and Cowles investigate the murders | Early runtime |
| Merriwether consults Clancy | Mid runtime |
| Clancy’s vision of Katherine’s blood | Mid runtime |
| Ambrose confronts Clancy after Merriwether’s death | Late runtime |
| Final subway confrontation | Late runtime |
The Verdict
Solace is a film that squanders a good idea. It has a strong cast, a promising premise, and a director with some skill. None of that is enough to rescue a script that can’t find its footing. The film is slow, repetitive, and ultimately unsatisfying.
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