In a future where a private investigator makes a living probing through peoples' memories, he becomes obsessed with finding a mysterious woman.

DRAMA/SCI-FI

Reminiscence (2021)

Written and Directed by Lisa Joy

Starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton,
​Cliff Curtis, Marina de Tavira, Mojean Aria, Daniel Wu, Brett Cullen

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Connor Eyzaguirre

August 22, 2021

4/10

Reminiscence is some sort of unholy spawn between Inception and Chinatown that's written and directed by someone who co-created one of the most promising (and then most confusing and infuriating) TV shows in recent history: Westworld. I can't say I'm surprised. The whole notion of living in the past through recorded memories and false reality is ripped straight out of that show, only this time they added a very generic detective through line to follow. That is, if you can follow it through this ridiculous maze of goofy dinner theater villains and a story so boring I can barely remember it and I just finished it not ten minutes ago.

Nick Bannister (Jackman) is not a furniture salesman, despite the perfect name for it. He's a private detective who helps people relive their memories in a 3D environment. They jack in to a Matrix/Inception/Assassin's Creed dream machine that lets Nick watch their memories and notice things for his clients. When the gorgeous and mysterious Mae (Ferguson) arrives and entrances Nick, then disappears, Nick devotes all his resources to finding her. Along the way, he stumbles into a kidnapping plot, a drug dealer situation, murder most foul, and Mae's true motives, which were less than savory. Of course, by that point, I had entirely checked out. Everything plays out pretty predictably.

The biggest sin this film commits is that it doesn't even bother to explore this strange new world it's introduced us to. A world where massive floods have split society into the dry land and the wetlands. The rich stay dry, while the poor get wetter and wetter, with revolution just waiting to be set off. But no. Instead, we get a Dashiell Hammett novel and a bunch of bullshit philosophy buzz words. Hugh Jackman and Thandiwe Newton deserve better.