User reviews

Have never written a review before but this show deserves to be watched! It's a slow burner yes, but what a pay off in the end. Worth the viewing time. If you have watched a lot of horror/thriller/mystery you will appreciate it. The pyro guy is fun to watch along with the other 'nuts' of the asylum ward. Everyone plays their part well.

Got all the right ingrediënts for a good thriller/suspense series. The acting is very good, indeed top-notch. The story had its flaws but come on, have you watched Strangers Things really closely? Main atraction in this Belgian series is the mood.. very creepy and .. unsettling. Try and give it 3 episodes: you're hooked.

Several episodes seem to lack luster at the beginning. I began with an expectation of supernatural involvement, and was constantly irritated at the slow development.

But, the relationships between husband and wife, the mysteries, and the emotional turmoil kept me in it. I am not easily surprised, yet this did exactly that. The end is well worth the wait. You can argue that it's unbelievable, but I don't think that comes into it. It's explanatory and dramatic. You will be hard-paced to find any single season drama that resolves so well.

The key to any resolution is that it meets some criteria: 1) It is not fantastical. It could happen without violating physical laws. 2) It has a certain bitter-sweetness. Not a requirement, but definitely helps. 3) It resolves the crisis of the main character. 4) It lets us love the character, after having had her character impuned upon throughout. It redeems her believably.

Give it a try. Relax.

Tabula Rasa is an excellent psychological thriller. The acting is top-knotch, particularly from the three lead actors: Veerle Baetens, Stijn Van Opstal, and Jeroen Perceval.

This is a show that will keep you guessing, with so many twists, layers, and hidden connections. There's a fantastic air of creepiness and menace. The imagery is stunning and the cinematography is great. My jaw dropped in shock more than once.

Aside from the intricate and compelling central mystery, the relationship drama is also great. There's nuance in the performances and the show really displays the complexity of family life. As an American, I found it fascinating to see what life in Flanders is like.

There are just so many fantastic elements to this show. It's the perfect show to bingewatch. Tabula Rasa, along with Dark, prove that some of Netflix's best content is the foreign language shows. I can't recommend Tabula Rasa enough. It's such a smart show.

I loved it, I have gone almost exclusively to the international movies and series on Netflix, they are such a breath of fresh air after the trash of Hollywood. There are several moments in Tabula Rasa where you will stop breathing, it's that good. If you find it "slow" or "boring" as somebody is saying, you might have that "instant gratification" problem, too much American film long on non-stop action and short on meaning. (I am American but no lover of the film industry - either glorifying sex and violence or both together or preaching politics, I am done with them.) These foreign projects have opened new horizons for me, too - how many more times do I need to see NYC and LA, anyway. Keep it coming, I'm hooked.

Exquiste and nuanced . . subtle thriller, truly beautiful!

I had to put aside all electronics to pay attention to this to read the subtitles and I'm 100% happy that I did. This show kept changing genres while keeping my attention. The acting was incredible and the sets were great. I totally recommend it for everyone it's not too scary to watch by yourself and the subtitles don't go by too quickly to be distracting. Great show!

This Netflix show is worth watching all the episodes from start to finish. The acting is superb from this wonderful ensemble of foreign actors. Don't let the subtitles dissuade you from this gem, the captivating story line makes you forget that you are reading subtitles? Shows that make you want to binge are few and far between, so do yourself a favor and watch Tabula Rasa! It's that good!

Again another fantastic foreign language drama that delivers a strong plot with expert execution but an outstanding cast. The main female lead is on a tortuous journey and you are taken along for the ride, trying to second guess every twist and turn. Binge watch the whole box set.

The premise of the show is quite interesting and similar to shows/ movies i liked e.g the sinner, memento so I decided to give it a watch.

As my title suggests the show starts of to an extreme slow start. The case is not the subject moreso the lead her life and struggle with her condition is. The cinematography is beautiful and done with an great eye for details. The story encapsulates you and the way its presented with the intertwining of dreams, memories and imaginations brings the struggle of her condition to life. But as my sympathy for several characters begins to grow my patience does the opposite.

Too many details and revelations were stuffed in the last couple minutes of the last episode, it doesn't fit with the very detailed and slow paced show that it was just a couple of minutes before.

Watching a well written, well shot psychological drama is not an punishment in any way. Yet i felt cheated when i came to the realization that they just thrown the meal i was diligently waiting for in the bin and served me a last minute pizza from around the corner instead.

I can easily say this series is one of the best I have seen. Initially you may find it little slow moving but last two or three episodes will shockingly surprise you. Have little bit patience and continue watching this. The series will end much better than your expectations.

This nine part Belgian drama is centred on Annemie D'Haeze, a woman who is being held at a secure medical facility. The police believe that she holds the answers to what happened to Thomas De Geest, a man who has disappeared. Unfortunately she has no memory of him... in fact she has been unable to form new long term memories since she was involved in a car crash months earlier.

The story progresses in two time frames. In the present we see her interviewed by a policeman with a special interest in the case, talk to her psychiatrist and befriend a fellow inmate. In the months after her accident where we see her life with husband Benoit and young daughter Romy; how she comes to know the missing man and how she tries to cope with her memory loss. As the story progresses it becomes clear that many things she believed weren't true and many people are keeping secrets from her; for motives which may or may not be in her best interests.

I really enjoyed this series; the story was told in a way that drip fed us key facts before twisting many certainties... early on I wasn't even certain of its genre as well as a conventional central mystery there were even hints of supernatural elements. What happened to Thomas De Geest, suitably renamed 'Thomas Spectre' in the subtitles, was not obvious by any means and if something bad had happened to him there were plenty of suspects; these included Annemie, Benoit and a mysterious man lurking near their home amongst others. The final resolution was perhaps a little melodramatic but it was enjoyable. The cast did an impressive job; Veerle Baetens was great as Annemie; young Cécile Enthoven really impressed as Romy, especially during her character's more disturbing moments and Gene Bervoets was solid as Inspector Jacques Wolkers... to be honest I don't think there were any weak performances just some characters that stood out more than others. The way the story is told amplifies Annemie's self-doubt in a way that creates an oppressive atmosphere. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to anybody wanting a mystery that keeps one guessing right to the end.

These comments are based on watching the series in Dutch with English subtitles.

To be fair, movies which incorporate (seemingly endless) time jumps could sometimes not only be hard to follow but structurally deficient as well. Thankfully, "Tabula Rasa" ("Blind Slate") had all their ducks in a row. Obviously, a ton of plotting went into making this mystery series, As Nordic Noir goes (if it truly fits into that category), "Tabula Rasa" sits head and shoulders above similar titles, fitting right up there with other excellent series like"Bordertown," "Depart Q", etc. Cinematography was to die for as was the general acting. Some reviewers complained about pacing issues. I didn't mind the long drags, though. That seems to be part and parcel of Nordic Noir anyway, you know, allowing the viewer enough time to absorb the lush scenery, as it were.

Started out 'okay', but by episode 4 had some awesome twists and turns that made the show better than expected. Excellent characters... Loved Vronsky. Had me hooked, the sort of show that by the second to last episode you start to panic about what to watch next.

Only problem?..the high speed finishing off in episode nine...real shame.

A thriller with the sort of plot twist that means its not the sort of show you could watch through twice , still..one of the more worthy offerings on Netflix.

I'm not a fan of dutch shows, so belgian even less, I thought..... How can I be so stupid!

Please watch these series.

First time I wrote a review so go figure.

This is a beautiful, well made thriller that is not capable of being appreciated by the average minded.

2 major issues:

• a plot for a 1.5hs film extended into a 8hs serie
• a final full of inconsistencies

Tabula Rasa(2017) Country-Belgium Language-Flemish Episodes-7 I have heard once from a revered critic that horror works more genuinely if the characters involved in it are developed well so that in moments of their distress, we care for them and wish them to be safe and quite seamlessly involve in their fear. Most of the horror films/series don't do this , they are incidental horrors which evokes fear but not because the characters are in distress but because the ghosts are scary. Tabula Rasa fits into the former category quiet effortlessly.

This Belgian mini-series depicts a disappearance investigation of a scrapeyard worker, whose prime suspect is our protagonist, Anne suffering from anterogade amnesia. She is admitted in a psychiatric hospital during the process. The story jogs between two narratives, her in the hospitals and the events two months before the disappearance.

Two months prior to the disappearance, Anne moved with her husband and daughter to her ancestral home in a secluded area amidst the forest. Anne starts experiencing suspicious phenomena there. Is she delusional or is there really an occult presence in the house? The script constantly confuses the audience with reasons behind both possibilities. The investigation storyline is also not overshadowed, both storylines progresses parallelly and sometimes converges to give twists.

The character of Anne is conscious of her illness and that's what pains her the most. She knows she will forget but still she is trying to be a perfect mother and wife. His husband cares for her and is extremely possessive of her wife. He has arranged everything for her wife to not fall in distress during his absence. But still he sometimes grows weary of her wife's illness and tries to give in. The imperfect characters resonates well to make the script believable. The side characters ranging from her troublesome daughter, promiscuous mother, a pyromaniac patient in the hospital gives another dimension to her character.

"The subplot character provides another opportunity to define the protagonist through comparison and advance the plot" This above statement is justified by the following series .The side characters have their own backgrounds but it blends into Anne's narrative and broadens her role.

The film, as I already said made us care for Anne when she is in distress and having horrific visions. A mysterious house, a creepy prowler etc; the setting is perfect to the genre and it works. There are several twists ,most of them are delivered well except the last one, it seems far fetched.

The performances are great .Veerle Baetens as Anne is the heart of the series. The cinematography is great and also the dream sequences are shot well. The opening credits is beautiful.