So this is what they call a 'backdoor pilot' in TV talk. It's not a movie as much as it is a setup for a prospective TV show. This is obvious from the opening credits, in which the main character fills us in on details that haven't happened yet (but which are about to) which will be important background for viewers of future episodes. The story does not conclude in this episode.
The whole thing's shot very TV as well, sort of 24-lite. And it's not done terribly well, either. The angles are often not very interesting, the camera moves are random and sometimes overstate unimportant details. The unsteady cam feels forced as a whole, and the camera man has a tendency to miss on his camera moves. Sound/music is competent but pretty standard fare for TV drama.
Some of the actors have obviously been doing bit TV parts so long they're bored of it. The "Scientist" character, Dr. Crick (Get it? GET IT?!) is especially notable for this specific kind of acting. You'll wonder by her third line if she's ever spoken this many lines on TV before. Sadly she's required to do some of the secondary plot's heavy lifting, so it's going to be a lot of declarative statements for us.
So it's not a very good TV pilot posing as a movie with poor technical skill, why bother writing a review? Well, the other review got me interested enough to watch it, and if you're interested enough to click "See all 2 reviews" I figured I might as well tell you what's good enough about it that I finished it.
The lead actress is interesting in a not-very-TV kind of way. You get the sense she's had a life of some kind. I don't know her from anywhere else, but after a shaky first scene, she acquits herself well in this role. Eric Stolz is good as the handler and while the 'mystery of the week' is handled sloppily and uninterestingly, the conspiracy-stuff is actually quite interesting. The premise is a bit misleading, but the secondary premise is far more interesting than the initial one.
OK, so it's got a lot of flaws and should be mediocre at best, but a couple of things elevated it a couple of notches above average. If you like amnesia stories, personality switching, or season-long mysteries you'll probably enjoy this and wish it went on to be a full series. Otherwise, you probably won't get past the first couple of scenes.
