Clean Slate

Clean Slate

Year: 1994

Runtime: 107 mins

Language: English

Director: Mick Jackson

ComedyMystery

Pogue, a private investigator, suffers total amnesia each morning, waking up with a blank slate. While he’s deep in a high‑stakes investigation and a budding romance begins to blossom, his daily memory loss turns every new day into a fresh, perilous mystery he must piece together before nightfall.

Clean Slate (1994) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Clean Slate (1994) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In the sun‑bleached sprawl of Los Angeles, a city that never quite sleeps, private‑investigator Pogue grapples with a condition that turns every sunrise into a fresh unknown. Each morning he awakens with a total loss of memory from the day before, forcing him to rebuild his world from scratch while the clock relentlessly ticks toward night. The film’s tone is a sleek blend of gritty noir and high‑concept thriller, where atmospheric rain‑slick streets and neon‑washed offices collide with the intimate anxiety of a mind that refuses to retain its own story.

Against this backdrop, a tentative romance begins to flicker when Sarah appears, a woman whose own secrets seem to echo the detective’s fragmented reality. Their connection adds a fragile layer of warmth and vulnerability, reminding both the audience and the protagonist that even a shattered memory can cling to desire. The chemistry between them is charged with the tension of an ever‑present danger, hinting at deeper entanglements without revealing the specifics of any looming threats.

The world of the film is one where every ordinary interaction can become a puzzle piece, and the familiar tropes of the hard‑boiled detective genre are reshaped by the protagonist’s daily reset. As Pogue pieces together clues recorded on tapes, scribbled notes, and fleeting impressions, the narrative pulses with a relentless urgency that keeps the audience guessing what will emerge before darkness falls. The score underscores this perpetual race against time, blending subdued jazz with a pulse‑quickening rhythm, while the visual palette shifts between the stark glare of daylight investigations and the shadowed intimacy of night‑time revelations. In this relentless dance of memory and mystery, Pogue must constantly decide who to trust—himself, the strangers he meets, or the faint glow of a new love that might be the only constant in his ever‑renewing story.

Last Updated: November 25, 2025 at 15:19

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Memory Maze Mysteries like in Clean Slate

Protagonists solving dangerous puzzles despite fractured or unreliable memories.Find movies with protagonists who have memory loss, similar to Clean Slate. These films feature high-stakes investigations where the hero's amnesia adds a layer of daily peril and mystery, creating a unique, tense puzzle for the viewer to solve.

suspensefulparanoidmysteriousanxiousurgentdisorientingunreliable narrator

Narrative Summary

These stories revolve around a protagonist with amnesia or a distorted perception of reality, forcing them to reconstruct events from unreliable fragments. The plot often involves a daily or recurring reset, creating a unique structure where trust is paramount and the past is a dangerous secret.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped by their core narrative device: a character's memory loss driving the plot. This creates a shared mood of confusion, paranoia, and urgency, as the audience and protagonist discover the truth simultaneously.

Race Against the Clock Thrillers like Clean Slate

Characters facing a relentless, inescapable countdown to disaster.Discover high-tension movies similar to Clean Slate, where a strict deadline creates relentless urgency. These films feature protagonists in a desperate sprint against time, whether it's a daily reset, a ticking bomb, or a looming catastrophe.

urgentsuspensefulanxiousfast-pacedhigh-pressurefranticaction-packed

Narrative Summary

The narrative is structured around a fixed, recurring, or rapidly approaching deadline that dictates the pacing. The protagonist is in a perpetual state of action, with minimal downtime, as they work to prevent a catastrophic outcome before time runs out.

Why These Movies?

They share a core structural element of a ticking clock, which dictates a fast pace and generates consistent tension. The focus is on the visceral experience of urgency and the high-pressure problem-solving required to beat the deadline.

Unlock the Full Story of Clean Slate

Don't stop at just watching — explore Clean Slate in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Clean Slate is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Clean Slate Summary

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Clean Slate Summary

Clean Slate Timeline

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Clean Slate Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Clean Slate

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Clean Slate

More About Clean Slate

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