A tale as old as time. A boy becomes fixated with a girl who has no interest in him whatsoever, to the point, she barely acknowledges his existence. Secret Obsession follows a young woman’s journey to discover the truth after an accident that damages her memory.
Already from the introduction, you can probably tell this sounds awfully familiar. Reading the description of the film, you wouldn’t know if it’s Before I Go To Sleep or Secret Obsession. They follow the exact same premise.
The film starts off following Jennifer who is terrified for her life. As she is running, she gets hit by a car and ends up in hospital. Her husband (Russell) comes to collect her and is tasked with helping her regain her memory. She is released from the hospital and gets the feeling that something is wrong. Russell tells her that her parents have passed away, she has no job, she has no friends, etc. He is all she has. As you can guess, Russell is not who he says he is and has always been in love with Jennifer. By trapping her, she would finally be his.
My biggest issue with this film is its predictability. You know the ending before the film has even started, therefore it is not truly a thriller. There are no thrills. What’s worse is that is the only topic the film even covers. There are no deeper relationships, no unearthed secrets, and nothing else that really engages the viewer.
There are also issues with believability. Russell doesn’t have to prove who he is before taking home a patient with amnesia… I guess that’d be fine if it was set many years ago but I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works in the modern-day. Also, it’s not clear how he got away with so much and that no-one could find her.
On a more positive note, the acting is good. Personally, I like the actors. You’ve got Brenda Song (Jennifer) who’s been in many great shows (including The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) and she did a fantastic job in this. You’ve also got Mike Vogel playing Russell who appears in a number of great films but I remember him most from Under The Dome. He did a fantastic job in Secret Obsession of someone who is in love but also can turn a bit crazy quite quickly.
The way that the film is put together in its entirety is what bothers me most. It’s predictable, uninteresting and you gain absolutely nothing from watching it. It’s a shame for the actors but you never know beforehand whether a project will be successful or not. It’s a film similar to Before I Go To Sleep which had the likes of Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth starring and it was a huge success.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend watching this film unless you want something on the TV in the background while you’re working or something. You know what’s going to happen and there aren’t any underlying plot points.
My Rating - 4/10 (only because of the actors and the cinematography).