is it bollocks?

Film Buff investigates the facts behind outlandish movie plots.

This monTh Kingsman: The secreT service’s mobile mind-conTrol

q In Kingsman: The Secret Service, Samuel L. Jackson’s villain commits a mass hypnotism by sending out a mobile phone signal that turns users ultraviolent. Is that remotely possible?

a proFessor michael barnes, neurologisT and rehaBiliTaTion specialisT, proFmichaelBarnes.co.uk

I think it’s complete bollocks. [laughs] Basically, the answer is: it is nonsense. Is it at any stretch of the imagination? I suppose brainwashing… If someone has got a mental health issue and they’re quite vulnerable and you keep ringing them up and saying, “You should do this, you should do this…” because of their mental health vulnerability, you might be able to persuade them to do something.

Can you hypnotise someone on the phone? No, not really. If you’re sitting in front of a hypnotist and they have a deep, repetitive voice, that could come over a phone. But again, you’ve got to be in the right atmosphere and the right mood. You couldn’t just ring someone up out of the blue and do it. So basically, the quick answer is no, it’s nonsense. What they’re portraying in the film is never going to happen.

The cliché that does bug me, that’s very, very common in TV programmes, is the comatose patient who’s been in a coma for weeks. They wake up and within an hour they’re back to normal, talking and chatting, and going to solve the crime. That never ever happens.

verdicT complete bollocks

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