Movie Review
Reminiscence has a budget of $68 million and boy does it make the most of it. The set design is beautiful, the suffocating city of New Orleans looks stunning, and the interiors are lavishly dressed. But looks can only go so far. Remember what else was produced by HBO that looked visually stunning on a staggering budget? Game of Thrones Season 8.
Reminiscence, while not as bad as that empty finale, is a movie that completely squanders its potential. And that’s a bitter pill to swallow, because Reminiscence has a lot of promise.
I rarely watch trailers, but as a huge fan of all things cerebral and sci-fi-oriented from afar, Remembrance seemed like the perfect summer sci-fi flick. Unfortunately, the laborious pacing and masses of exposition make this scene oddly disjointed and downright boring at times. It pains me to say this, especially with the concepts at play here, but Remembrance can and should be so much more.
Written by Lisa Joy, Reminiscence is Joy’s first solo project off the back of her success with Westworld. The tone and atmosphere actually feels like an HBO sci-fi movie, but instead of the highs of season 1, it falls just above the indolence of season 3.
The watery world we adopt here takes place in the near future where the ice caps are melting, possibly from climate change. Florida is partially submerged, resembling a new-age Venice with boat waterways and flooded streets. The world is now a nighttime paradise – at least on the East Coast, daytime temperatures are too hot to go outside (except when the script dictates, of course!)
Storyline
People with a bleak, unhappy future naturally look to the past for comfort. Moving forward, Nick and his friend Watts run into the business that houses the storage device.
With subjects sedated in vats of water and left alone with their memories, these “memories” offer a brief respite from the horrors of the present world – and boy are they addicted. The past serves up an intoxicating mix of dreams, wishes, and longing that Nick and Watts profit from. They are also quick to recognize how tempting it can be.
So Nick is one of these addicts himself, making the plot all the more ironic. After work, he dives into the dark recesses of his memories. In the past, he was romantically involved with a femme fatale named Mae, who accidentally stumbled into his office looking for help.
However, when May disappears without a trace, leaving a single earring outside, Nick is determined to find out what happened. It’s ultimately what drives his character, as he and Watts ponder the best way to approach it.
In its simplest form, Reminiscence plays old fashioned detective noir. The memory machine essentially acts as a device for flashbacks, helping Nick piece together what happened as he travels between different locations around town. As the film progresses, it soon becomes clear that there is more to this than meets the eye.
Problem With Reminiscence
The problem is that when Reminiscence kicks into high gear, it drowns in a constant barrage of monologue exposition. As Nick recounts his journey, numerous key shots are filled with poetic one-liners and monologues that sometimes border on the pretentious.
There’s a constant problem with telling us what’s going on or happening rather than showing us on screen. We are told of wars in the past and even of the rich profiting off the poor. Surely both of these could be demonstrated through casual conversations on the streets at night? But even if we excuse it, we can see all this through the visual design of the city. With $68 million to play with, to quote John Hammond: Reminiscence, no expense was spared.
Problems With Characters
This problem also applies to characters. While the mystery itself is suspiciously compelling enough to see the ending, the players inhabiting this world make it even more difficult to reach the finish line. There’s not a lot of depth to most of these guys — outside of Watts and Nick — and there’s a deep lack of chemistry with a lot of the big players.
This is most noticeable between Nick and Mae, and given the relationship that this drama is centered around, that’s a big problem. This fact is only exacerbated by a series of weak and completely forgettable antagonists. Not to mention the lush world that cries out for deeper meaning beyond creative footage.
Cinematography
And that’s ultimately the biggest problem with Remembrance – there’s no deeper meaning. The film is incredibly beautiful with incredible cinematography, some impressive action sequences and lots of lavishly dressed sets. There are a number of characters that lack chemistry and a second act that drags on longer than it should, but it all comes down to nothing.
There are a lot of influences here, from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to the beginning, Remembrance doesn’t deserve to be this unforgettable.