The non-linear memory movie has become a staple of modern cinema, with the likes of Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind setting the standard. Memoires Affectives, a Quebecois thriller about an amnesiac piecing his life together after he comes out of a coma, has less of the fast-paced, stylistic flourishes of those films, but is a visually arresting variation on the memory theme.

When someone tries to kill comatose, hit-and-run victim Alexandre (Roy Dupuis) by pulling the plug on his life-support machine the patient awakes from his coma instead of dying.

Haunted by flashbacks, he is unable to remember anyone from his past life, and finds himself virtually a stranger in his own body. The fortysomething amnesiac is capable of recalling his veterinary knowledge and social skills, but is at the mercy of others' projections - his estranged wife, his grown-up daughter, or his partner and "best friend" - about who he was/is.

Confused, he retreats to his family cottage in a wintry Northern town, gets out the family photographs and tries to piece together his past life with a collage on his wall. As Alexandre goes deeper into his past, he is forced to confront some bitter truths.

The second film from Quebecois writer-director Francis LeClerc, his first was Un Jeune Fille A La Fenetre, this is relatively conventional in its narrative style, relying heavily on flashback from the opening. Roy Dupuis, not the most expressive of actors, plays the bewildered amnesiac suffering inner demons with mostly a quiet desperation.

Viewed from this unreliable point of view, the story leaves little scope for the talented supporting cast to develop their characters. The steadily-paced narrative and arresting shots of the frozen French Canadian landscape offer an apt metaphor and mood-setter for the stasis that Alexandre is experiencing. The cinematography often has a beautiful bleakness to it, with scenes so drained of colour that the picture is almost black-and-white at times (some might argue the image is too desaturated).

Leclerc is not afraid to make fun of his protagonist's lack of memory (the close-up of the protagonist's car licence plate which says "Je me souviens", the Quebec slogan meaning "I Remember" is an amusing touch) and humour in the dialogue brings some welcome levity. The film has plenty to recommend it, although the conclusion leaves too many questions unanswered.