Secret Obsession | Film Review

Hey Guys x

This is a new Netflix movie, and I had no desire to watch it until I saw so many people talking about it, either in a really negative way, or basically saying that it was bad enough to be good, so of course, I had to see for myself if it was as bad as everyone said!

A woman called Jennifer (Brenda Song) gets into an accident and wakes up with amnesia. Luckily, her devoted husband (Mike Vogel) is on hand to make sure that she's getting the care she needs. But Jennifer's life isn't as it seems. Will she remember the truth in time to save herself?

I have so much to say about this film, including a comparison that I've seen a lot of other people make, but I don't want to spoil either movie (because the movie that I'd compare this to is really good), but the thing is, because of that other movie, this one is just completely unoriginal. The only thing that's different is that the plot twist that's expertly revealed in that other film is quickly and clumsily revealed in this one.

The beginning of the film is really intriguing. Even though you don't care about the characters at all, you're interested in the situation and really want to know what's going on.

But then this intrigue quickly goes away to make room for weirdness and confusion.

For a start, maybe I've been watching too much Grey's Anatomy, but the whole hospital scene seemed really unrealistic. Not one of the doctors sounded real, the dialogue was off, and it really set a precedent for how the film would continue.

At first, the film feels really black-and-white. You guess where you think it's going to go based on similar films, hoping that this one will actually be different. However, it's not different. For a few moments, you do genuinely think that they might do something different with this film. But then a certain character shows their true colours way too early, and when you know who you can't trust, a lot of the suspense is taken away.

The word 'stealthy' is not in Jennifer's vocabulary. You find yourself so frustrated by her because she's doing everything all wrong. You can't help but roll your eyes when you watch her because it's hard to understand why she's not being quieter or sneakier or smarter about her research of her life before she lost her memory.

And then there were a lot of unanswered questions. For one, why was she only given one crutch when she had a broken leg? Who was the man who sent her flowers? What was the point of giving the detective a back story? They teased a lot of things just to completely forget about them as the film continued, and that was really annoying.

Overall, as you can probably tell from this review, the film isn't great. However, it is entertaining and intriguing enough to keep you watching til the end. If anything, I think it is a case of being bad enough to be good, so definitely give it a watch if you're bored and want something to shout at your TV about.

5/10

Lou