Trap for Cinderella

Director Iain Softley announced his talent with Backbeat (about the Beatles early years in Hamburg) and doomy Edwardian romance The Wings of the Dove, and though this twisty thriller about identity and memory isn't quite in their league, it's a decent-enough distraction. Tuppence Middleton and Alexandra Roach (from TV series Utopia) play former best friends who've drifted apart and then meet again several years later. Middleton is well-to-do and extrovert; Roach is dowdy and needy. When a devastating house fire leaves one dead and the other requiring extensive facial reconstruction, the amnesiac survivor embarks on a tortuous road to recovery, with flashbacks filling in details of the duo's relationship. The plot also involves a wealthy aunt (Frances de la Tour), a manipulative personal assistant (Kerry Fox) and oodles of inheritance money. Genre fans may find they're well ahead of the mazy twists and turns, but good performances from the leads and a distinctive European look and tone maintain the absorbing atmosphere.