Writer/Director Michel Franco, whose past credits include 2012’s ‘After Lucia’ and 2015’s ‘Chronic’ brings us his latest drama ‘Memory’; an involving human-interest story featuring great leading turns from Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard. The story keeps the audience guessing throughout as we are drip-fed partworks of past events that inform the present, with some devastating home truths brought to light.
The story follows Sylvia (Jessica Chastain), a single mother and carer/social worker who is naturally guarded and never really at ease in her life. Sylvia is a recovering alcoholic and clearly has past traumas which she hasn’t managed to fully work through. She has a good relationship with her teenage daughter Anna (Brooke Timber) and spends lots of time with her sister Olivia (Merritt Wever) and her family, but Sylvia is estranged from her own mother Samantha (Jessica Harper).
When Olivia asks Sylvia to attend a high school reunion party in town, she is naturally dismissive but is encouraged to get out more. So reluctantly agreeing to go, she ends up having an odd encounter with a man who follows her from the party to the subway, and eventually to outside her apartment. He stays there all night in the rain and the next morning Sylvia is surprised to see that he is still outside, huddled onto the pavement drenched and shivering. Being a carer, she goes outside to talk to the man who has no recollection of following her from the night before. His name is Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) who, it turns out, has early onset dementia and who can’t account for large parts of his day.
Sylvia takes Saul back to his home, where he lives with his brother Isacc (Josh Charles) and his niece Sara (Elsie Fisher) who is back home visiting from college. Seeing how her uncle is around her, Sara convinces Sylvia to take on a paid caring role for Saul during the day. As they spend time together, they get to know each other well and a mutual attraction blossoms. However past trauma from their lives interfere and bring up difficult situations that require resolution if they are to find any peace in their lives.
’Memory’ is a well made and involving study into past trauma and how it affects our lives. The film hinges on two sensational leading performances from Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, who really captivate every time they are onscreen. Chastain in particular is brilliant – she has a lot of raw and damaging emotion to work through onscreen, and she handles this extremely well. Sarsgaard gives Saul a believable, flawed character and the two share a wonderful working chemistry that always holds your attention throughout. The supporting cast are also all great, with Merritt Wever and Elsie Fisher the pick of the ensemble.
Where ‘Memory’ doesn’t quite work for me, is narratively. Overall, it gets you from A-Z, but there are some questionable plot points which I felt distracted from the story at large. And the way these uneven situations play out mean that there’s an uneasiness to the story that doesn’t need to be there. These all involve spoilers to the film, so I won’t elaborate on them here, but there are some very odd situations that I feel conjure up the wrong sentiments to the story-at-large. Scenes also play out in a way that leaves you wanting more, but not in a good way. Things involving Sylvia and Saul’s relationship needed more screentime but sometimes the audience are left wanting in individual scenes that feel unfinished.
Despite its structural flaws, ‘Memory’ is a good film, and one that deserves an audience. Its themes are immediate and handled with due care. The subject matters featured in the film might be triggering for some, but they are handled maturely and with consequence. With a great lead and superb support, ‘Memory’ is an intriguing character study, and one that doesn’t shy away from real world problems.
Memory is in UK and Irish cinemas from 23rd February memoryfilm.uk
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever Brooke Timber, Elsie Fisher, Josh Charles, Jessica Harper Director: Michel Franco Writer: Michel Franco Certificate: 15 Duration: 99 mins Released by: Miracle/Bohemia Release date: 23rd February 2024
