Not Memorable
When Sutton (Italia Ricci - Late Bloomer) arrives at her mother's luxurious home there is no reply so she lets herself in only to discover her sister April (Magda Apanowicz) crouched over her mother's lifeless body holding a blooded kitchen knife in her hand. Traumatized, April can't remember a single thing which happened and she is placed into a psychiatric facility, much to the annoyance of Detective Whitaker (Shauna Johannesen) who is convinced April is guilty of murdering her own mother. A year later and April still can't remember what happened that fateful night but is released into Sutton's custody to face trial with Sutton representing her. But April's staying with Sutton causes problems with her husband Glenn (Zak Santiago - Til Death Do Us Part) who works with the Sutton and April's stepfather, Orly (Kevin McNulty - Three Weeks, Three Kids), leading to friction at home. But the situation worsens as Sutton tries to help April remember what happened that night.
I have decided that I need another category for movies, those which are too obvious that they can't be that obvious and "Fatal Memories" would be right at the top of that category. Why? Well right from the word go there is a character which clearly is the audience's main suspect, from they way they act around others to the suspiciousness of giving April a car which just happens to have fault brakes. But it is so intentional that as you watch "Fatal Memories" you find yourself thinking that surely it can't be that obvious, it must be someone else; maybe the less than happy Glenn, maybe it was April or how about the detective who seems to have an unexplained dislike of Sutton. I won't say as to how "Fatal Memories" ends, or what surprises there may or may not be along the way but I will say it doesn't devote any time at all when it comes to delivering the killer's motive.
What that means is that "Fatal Memories" consists of following Sutton around, who when you pay attention doesn't seem to do much when it comes to finding evidence. This is interspersed with Glenn acting cheesed off along with Orly seeming to appear out of nowhere all the time as if he has been lurking in the shadows. The knock on effect of this is the camera spends an inordinate amount of time focused on Italia Ricci who in fairness does a typical TV movie job of playing Sutton but the camera constantly seems to zoom in on her looks which are appealing but what you want is more than Ricci looking attractive.
What this all boils down to is that "Fatal Memories" it typical of the modern made for TV movie genre with a focus on looks over the story telling or atmosphere. But this is one movie which makes you think that it really can't be as obvious as it is making things out to be which is what keeps you watching more than for the actual story.
