The Memory Game is a new thriller directed and written by Lien Willaert and Jan Verheyen. Together they also directed and wrote the films Bittersweet Sixteen and Red Sandra. The film is based on the book by the writer couple Nicci French.
During a renovation, the body of the 25-year-old missing Nathalie is found on the estate of the Deridder family. This find answers the question of where the missing Nathalie was all along, but now brings new questions about what exactly happened to her.
Nathalie's best friend Eva Ruttenberg (Anna Drijver) is now trying, just like the Deridder family, to remember what they remember from the day they last saw Nathalie. During these thought clearings, several family secrets emerge. Thus the known is now overshadowed with the secrets of the past.
This film quickly comes across as a kind of Cluedo game where the family and friends try to solve the murder case in order to identify a guilty party. As a viewer you try to play along and answer these questions yourself. Too much happens in a short time at a rapid pace, so you don't get all the information as clearly as possible. For example, you get a hurried introduction to the many different characters, not all of whom you get to know well. Sometimes it seems to the viewers through the various flashbacks. This can make the murder mystery a bit predictable at times.
Thanks to the hurried pace at which the story is told, the scriptwriter seems to have overlooked some details. For example, characters can't remember anything at first, but then all their memories suddenly come back. Many other Nicci French book adaptations have been made into TV miniseries, such as Secret Smile. In this way, their stories can be conveyed more clearly. They probably should have done this better for this film adaptation, to keep the story clearer.
The acting is done nicely, but thanks to the amount of characters, not every actor gets equal opportunities to do something special with their roles. Anna Drijver does her best to carry the film as the main character, but sometimes plays her role a bit too exaggerated during dramatic scenes, which makes them less credible. Furthermore, her character is sometimes developed a bit separately, because for example she feels little emotion for her husband with whom she was married and has a son. On the other hand, she does show feelings towards his sister, who was her best friend.
The further mutual relationships between the various characters in the film also come across as characters from a soap opera. Many characters have many secrets and feelings for each other, but try to remain secretive about this from the rest of the family.
