The first 15 minutes or so of watching this movie was a boring experience. I didn't know what was going on and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know what was going on. However, after an half hour or so things started to get clearer. Still no clue really, but at least I felt like there was a plot somewhere.

The last half hour or so was actually pretty good. By then I had a pretty good idea about what was going on and the movie was quite suspenseful, but not in the "thriller" sense of the word. This is very much a drama about mental illness and one man's fight against it.

I have never seen Colin Firth in a role even remotely resembling this one before. I can imagine he liked the change. I think he does a good job because he makes it clear that his character is not an evil man or a "psycho". He is ill in desperate need of help.

I can't say I liked Trauma, but I certainly didn't dislike it either. When it ended I felt that I had watched an interesting movie with many pretentious elements. Hardly an enjoyable experience and it's fragmented quality is certainly not for people who don't watch a lot of films. Interesting movie, but not a very good one.

(5/10)

Really great creepy cinematography, music, and staging all waiting for a plot. The story line twisted and turned and at each point of expected climax, there was nothing. I'm not sure what happened other than, he was a nut and it is more likely than not that he killed a nut. Did he make up his past and adopt Charlotte's Web? And what do spiders have to do with ant obsessions? And why did his apartment look like all the other places he went to? And why were there cameras everywhere, on the streets, in the stairwells? And maybe that cop was a figment of his imagination? Maybe the whole movie was in his imagination! We know the psychiatrist was in his head, but the watch gave that away in the beginning. But best of all, there is no hospital on the planet that would let you walk around barefooted! Maybe he is still in his coma.

I watched this all the way through, though I cant pretend I liked it. The overwhelming impression of this movie was confusion. I had zero idea of what the hell was going on. All the effects of a shocker movie were there, the insects,the momentary glimpses of things undetermined, to raise the tension, the creepy caretaker, the muted colouring, the mutilated corpse, flashbacks, the almost abandoned building which was an ex hospital with, handily, a morgue in the basement ! etc etc. For me a movie must have entertainment value, there was none here, the story was nasty all the way through. Acting ? Colin Firth, Mena Suvari... first class as you would expect when you manage to acquire actors of their standing you want to put them in a better vehicle than this movie.