Memory (2023)

• Year: 2023
• Released: 05 Jan 2024
• Country: Mexico, United States
• Adwords: 1 win & 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19864828/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/memory
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 1080p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 99 min
• Writer: Michel Franco
• Director: Michel Franco
• Cast: Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Brooke Timber
• Keywords: new york city, social worker, dementia, memory, high school reunion, abuse,

	6.8/10
	14% – Critics
	47% – Audience

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Memory Movie Reviews

Too Impassionate To Make Much Emotional Impact

In terms of setup, themes, and characters, there is a lot of potential lurking in writer/director Michel Franco’s Memory. The overriding problem for all of it? A severe lack of emotionally reverberant moments that also prevents any truly great acting from occurring.

For a very basic overview, Memory tells the story of Sylvia (Jessica Chastain), an emotionally-damaged woman living a severely sheltered life with teen daughter Anna (Brooke Timber)-who spends more time with “normal” aunt Olivia (Merritt Wever) and family anyway. After a bizarre occurrence following a high school reunion, Sylvia is introduced to Saul (Peter Sarsgaard)-a man suffering from dementia in which he has trouble remembering past activities. As these two “broken” people get to know each other, they discover a bond in their awkwardness.

Ostensibly, Memory is a film about the power of coming together (either as individuals or families)-rather than falling apart-in the midst of trials. Whereas both Sylvia and Saul are incontrovertible wrecks trying to fly solo, when they find each other something else flourishes entirely. While I might argue that Saul was lacking some backstory, this is pretty clearly a flick focused on Sylvia and all the seeds are there for that character.

But in large part depending upon how you prefer emotion to be handled in cinema, Memory may come across as rather dull and empty. Why? Because it contains little-to-no external flourishes to help prod the heartstrings, so to speak. This is a “empty looks to the camera” type of film, featuring no prominent score or soundtrack. There are no epic monologues or opportunities for large, emotional acting to peak through-of which I’d argue this movie needed in the worst way. For a cast featuring the established likes of Chastain, Sarsgaard, Elsie Fisher, and Jessica Harper, it was strange to just never get a memorable emotional moment from any of them.

For me, then, Memory was largely a disappointment. It may be better viewing for those who do not require an impetus for emotion other than “strict slice of reality”, but for those looking for even a bit of emotional or thespian pizzazz you’ll likely be searching until the credits roll and leave disappointed it was never uncovered.

Although the story feels improbable, I loved it

It’s a drama of two persons with damaged memories seeking solace. The film is set in New York City in the early 2000s. Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) is a single mom who is overly protective of her 12-13-year-old daughter, Anna (Brooke Timber). Sylvia, an alcoholic who has been sober for 12 years, relates to her younger sister, Olivia (Merritt Wever), but is estranged from her mother, Samantha (Jessica Harper). The viewer soon learns of Sylvia’s memories of abuse as a pre-teen.

Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) lives with his brother, Issac (Josh Charles). Saul’s wife died some time ago. He has early-onset dementia that displays in unusual ways. Sylvia and Saul encounter each other at a reunion at the high school they both attended.

The film follows their improbable relationship that evolves despite a very rocky start. Their families react in different ways to what they observe in the relationship, and the ending is, in my mind, ambiguous.

Chastain is marvelous in her character. Sarsgaard is good, but the nature of his role makes for a relatively narrow personality. The role of Anna seems a tad unrealistic, but Timber plays it well. I found the film’s editing to be superb. And I’ve always loved the Procul Harum song, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” that repeats as a theme throughout. Although the story feels improbable, I loved it.

An Unconventional Exploration of Recall and Romance

How we remember our past is something we can all bank on, right? Or is it? For instance, what happens when mitigating influences impact our memory, potentially causing it to become fallible and untrustworthy? Can we truly rely on our recall then? Those are among the questions raised in the unconventional new romantic thriller from writer-director Michel Franco. The film follows the life of Sylvia, a recovering alcoholic with a troubled past (Jessica Chastain), who’s unexpectedly (and alarmingly) followed home from her high school reunion by an alleged former classmate, Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), whom she believes sexually molested her at that time. She’s troubled by this latest development and questions his motives about it, which even he doesn’t understand, especially when it’s revealed that he suffers from dementia. And, in an added twist, it turns out that Sylvia’s recall about her supposed past interaction with him is foggy, something that’s not entirely surprising in light of her history. This revelation changes everything, and an entirely new relationship between them emerges, particularly when it comes to each of them helping one another sort of their respective pasts and begin the healing process. This includes the exposure of an array of additional developments and the persistence of some still-unresolved ambiguities, all of which emerge through a skillfully crafted narrative, effectively brought to life with the superb performances of Sarsgaard and Independent Spirit Award nominee Chastain. Admittedly, the picture’s first half could benefit from some stepped-up pacing, most notably the elimination of some sequences that are occasionally redundant and innately tiresome. However, the intrigue and engagement ramp up significantly in the picture’s back end, making up for much of the tedium in the opening act. Some of this is ironically accomplished through deftly handled nuance and subtlety, qualities that the filmmaker employs far more skillfully in the second half than in the first, where these traits are virtually obscured by prevailing understatement. Clearly, this is one of those releases that requires the viewer to give it some time to develop, but the payoff for doing so is worth it in the end. If nothing else, “Memory” provides us with a fresh perspective on its central theme while showing us how “like can cure like” in a psychological therapeutic process, an approach that can yield rewards beyond measure.