I was very tempted to just make this review one line. An obvious one.
I really just wanted to say: “Forget about it.”
That sums up my attitude to Amnesia, a horribly disappointing thriller that simply compounds its glaring errors by taking itself far too seriously when almost everything about it is impossible to take seriously.
Pia Tjelta and Christian Rubeck play Kathrine and Thomas, respectively. They are a married couple, spending some time in an isolated cabin situated on a small island. It could all be so idyllic, but Thomas is prone to violent outbursts that make the time very tense for Kathrine. Thankfully, during a physical altercation between the two of them, Thomas ends up receiving a blow to his head that wipes out his memory. Perhaps Kathrine can make the best of things, just as long as she keeps the truth of the situation away from Thomas.
Written and directed by Nini Bull Robsahm, this is a very bleak movie. There’s nothing wrong with being bleak, of course, if the content matches it. But Amnesia just starts off from a pretty ridiculous position, and then gets worse and worse as events unfold. Tjelta and Rubeck give decent performances, and their earnestness temporarily stops you from constantly thinking of how the movie is surely just one step away from being remade into an equally laughable thriller starring Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn. Or maybe I was the only one thinking that.
Did you know that amnesia doesn’t just remove your memories? It also changes your entire personality, at least temporarily. And makes you into a gullible idiot? Well, you can thank Robsahm for illustrating that clearly here. This script is more nonsensical and lightweight than an episode of Diagnosis Murder, and I’m sad to say that as the end credits rolled I realised that not once during the entire film did it have anything worthwhile to say. Absolutely nothing. Not about domestic abuse, not about love, not even about amnesia. Again, there’s nothing wrong with a film that doesn’t really say anything worthwhile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . as long as it manages to entertain while wasting your time. This doesn’t.
If you want to see two people who mistrust one another make a series of silly choices then this is the film for you. If you’re interested in the workings of the human mind, and the dark corners of some relationships that are kept hidden away from the public eye, then I suggest you look elsewhere.
WRITER/DIRECTOR: NINI BULL ROBSAHM
STARS: PIA TJELTA, CHRISTIAN RUBECK
RUNTIME: 80 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: NORWAY
Film Rating: 
