Overview: AmnesiA, directed by Martin Koolhoven (Winter in Wartime, Brimstone), is a psychological mystery thriller in which a photographer (Fedja van Huêt) returns home to find his family’s dark secrets uncovered.

Winner of the Golden Calf Award for Best Actor for dual role by Fedja van Huêt (Character, Speak No Evil) this is the debut feature film of Carice van Houten (Black Book, Game of Thrones).

Cult Epics presents AmnesiA in a 2-disc Blu-ray Limited Edition set which includes a bonus disc with Martin Koolhoven’s debut TV movies: the award-winning Suzy Q (1999), featuring the first TV movie appearances by Carice van Houten and Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones, The Age of Adaline), and Dark Light (1997) with Viviane de Muynck and Marc van Uchelen (The Assault).

Blu-ray Verdict: Twin brothers, Alex and Aram, meet at their family home which has fallen into disrepair since the death of their father. Alex is a plodding photographer with obvious trauma issues while Aram is a low-level mobster.

Aram drags his partner in crime to his home and leaves him in his bed instead of seeking medical assistance for the bullet in his belly. Alex and Aram butt heads again and again until Aram’s boss arrives to pick up the package Aram stole in the botched robbery.

This modern, somewhat Freudian take on Cain and Abel will leave some viewers confused, but those looking for a surreal experience with some outstanding cinematography and color theory will very much enjoy Martin Koolhoven’s grounded, organic and quite stunningly authentic AmnesiA.

Furthermore, the great virtue of this movie is that it doesn’t try to overreach. It doesn’t attempt to dazzle the viewer with breathtaking photography. It doesn’t try to stun the viewer with incisive dialogue. It just allows the viewer to languish within the psychological drama that unfolds, for as long as they wish, watching, learning, understanding at their own unforced pace.

Thus rather than risk likely failure trying to develop a genuinely original view of human psychology, AmnesiA floats gratefully in literal-minded Freudian psychoanalysis, replete with an underlying, yet always evident, Oedipean theme, so that the viewer can choose their own conclusional path.

There’s also some occasional bittersweet humor, but never too bitter or too sweet and wholly uncharacteristic for this movie is the stellar performance by Fedja van Huet as Alex/Aram; but the director uses all means at his disposal to prevent it from upsetting AmnesiA’s deeply cherished storytelling sensibilities.[j.z.]

- The first feature written and directed by Martin Koolhoven...reveals him as a skillful manipulator of disturbing visual images and a screenwriter adept at sustaining a mood of impending doom. A vision of suppressed fury, lust and violence below the surface of everyday life evokes a disturbing vision of upheaval and chaos under the cracked facade of normality. - The New York Times

SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 1:
4K HD Transfer (from the original camera negative) and Restoration
In Dutch with English Subtitles
Introduction by Martin Koolhoven
Audio Commentary by Martin Koolhoven, Fedja van Huet, moderated by Peter Verstraten
A Brand New 2022 Conversation with Martin Koolhoven & Carice van Houten (44 Mins)
The Making of AmnesiA (2001, 38 mins)
Behind-the-Scenes with Carice van Houten (2001)
Theatrical Trailer

DISC 2: LIMITED EDITION BONUS DISC – The TV films of Martin Koolhoven
Suzy Q [1999] (85 mins)
Dark Light (Duister Licht) [1997] (55 mins)
Trailers
New Slipcase Art by Peter Strain
Double-sided Sleeve with Original Bonus Film Posters

Official Trailer

Official Purchase Link