The mysterious thriller Secret Obsession debuted on Netflix this week and offers something different for the date night streaming crowd.
The film involves a woman named Jennifer (Brenda Song) who gets amnesia after being hit by a car and her husband Russell (Mike Vogel) arrives to help her regain her memory. The only problem is, her husband has a deep secret he isn’t telling her.
Now, before going any further in this story, please keep in mind, Spoilers are ahead for Secret Obsession.
Many are probably wondering after seeing the movie what Russell’s real name is and how he knew Jennifer. While the question of how he connected to her was mostly explained, many might have missed the character’s real name if not paying close attention.
Who was Russell in Secret Obsession?
While it may seem confusing (and a little far-fetched), Russell was not Russell at all. In fact, he was a stalker pretending to be Jennifer’s husband Russell.
The man she believed to be her husband goes by the name Ryan Gaerity. We learn soon after that Ryan had been obsessing over her for years before the events of the film.
It’s also conveyed that on the night of Jennifer and the real Russell’s wedding, Ryan broke into their home killing Russell and chasing Jennifer to the eventual point that she is hit by a car.
From there, Ryan learns of her amnesia from the collision and assumes the role of her murdered husband to have full control over her.
At this point, Ryan makes a plan to cut off any loose ends that can connect her identity to the murdered husband, starting with her parents, whom he brutally murders. He ends his master plan by driving her to his home miles away from civilization or anywhere that has a cellphone signal.
As stated previously, most of this is far-fetched if one thinks about it long enough. In real life, it would probably be a lot harder for someone to be taken out of the hospital with amnesia unless they had irrefutable proof they were married.
A doctor probably would not allow just an identifiable tattoo to be the final verdict on such a confirmation of release to a stranger. It also seems convenient that the stalker had a full photoshopped photo album on standby in case she just coincidentally succumbed to amnesia.
All this aside, with movies like this, suspension of disbelief is necessary. It’s the same concept that made audiences enjoy Overboard, only here it’s a thriller instead of a comedy.
And just like Overboard, the idea that the amnesia victim would be just handed over to Anna Farris is not based in reality. Same goes for the Kurt Rusell version.
Ryan having this plan ready at the drop of a hat is also silly but a fun concept for a mindless night of Netflix entertainment.
Secret Obsession is now streaming on Netflix.