TABULA RASA

After her memories are surgically erased, one teenage girl fights to recover her identity during a brutal attack on the hospital she’s trapped in.

At a mysterious medical center tucked among snow-covered mountains, Sarah receives the tabula rasa treatment, or removal of all past memories, for severe PTSD. Orderlies hint that patients are either “victims” or “perpetrators.” Though Sarah remembers nothing of her past, including her appearance, she suspects she falls into the latter category. When a power outage interrupts her surgery, a figure in the darkness slips her three pills and instructions. Soon, the center is thrown into chaos as soldiers suddenly attack, and Sarah flees her room, taking up with a teenage hacker sent to retrieve information. As Sarah’s memories return in uncontrollable bursts, she pieces together her parents’ twisted fate and her role in an attempt to bring down a corporate empire, all while avoiding rampant gunfire and falling perilously in love. The action ramps up quickly and never slows, creating a thriller with made-for-movies imagery. Lippert-Martin attempts to draw Sarah as a tough-as-nails heroine, but a hokey love story undermines her gumption. The back story that should be a rewarding reveal instead reads as an excuse for the cartoonish villain’s rampage.

A hard-hitting thriller that misses the mark when it comes to emotional impact.