A gripping Belgian drama

Tweekums

This nine part Belgian drama is centred on Annemie D'Haeze, a woman who is being held at a secure medical facility. The police believe that she holds the answers to what happened to Thomas De Geest, a man who has disappeared. Unfortunately she has no memory of him... in fact she has been unable to form new long term memories since she was involved in a car crash months earlier.

The story progresses in two time frames. In the present we see her interviewed by a policeman with a special interest in the case, talk to her psychiatrist and befriend a fellow inmate. In the months after her accident where we see her life with husband Benoit and young daughter Romy; how she comes to know the missing man and how she tries to cope with her memory loss. As the story progresses it becomes clear that many things she believed weren't true and many people are keeping secrets from her; for motives which may or may not be in her best interests.

I really enjoyed this series; the story was told in a way that drip fed us key facts before twisting many certainties... early on I wasn't even certain of its genre as well as a conventional central mystery there were even hints of supernatural elements. What happened to Thomas De Geest, suitably renamed 'Thomas Spectre' in the subtitles, was not obvious by any means and if something bad had happened to him there were plenty of suspects; these included Annemie, Benoit and a mysterious man lurking near their home amongst others. The final resolution was perhaps a little melodramatic but it was enjoyable. The cast did an impressive job; Veerle Baetens was great as Annemie; young Cécile Enthoven really impressed as Romy, especially during her character's more disturbing moments and Gene Bervoets was solid as Inspector Jacques Wolkers... to be honest I don't think there were any weak performances just some characters that stood out more than others. The way the story is told amplifies Annemie's self-doubt in a way that creates an oppressive atmosphere. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to anybody wanting a mystery that keeps one guessing right to the end.

These comments are based on watching the series in Dutch with English subtitles.

score 9/10

Tweekums 21 December 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4524430/