Memory – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MEMORY (Sydney FF 2024) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

June 17, 2024June 17, 2024 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas jessica chastain, Memory, Michel Franco, peter sarsgaard, Sydney FF 2024

Memory is a remarkably humane film that avoids any obvious missteps that would see it collapse into movie-of-the-week social issue melodrama terrain. While Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard largely carry the film, there is a particularly strong support cast that warrant acknowledgement; of particular note is Jessica Harper in a performance that is surely a career highlight. Memory is a thoughtful, moving film whose power and potency lingers well after the end credits.

Reviews

MEMORY – Review by Diane Carson

January 17, 2024January 17, 2024 Diane Carson Brooke Timber, jessica chastain, Memory, Merritt Wever, Michel Franco, peter sarsgaard

The trauma of a child’s sexual abuse is monumental, deserving serious, in-depth consideration. So too the issue of early onset dementia, expressed in real life in diverse ways from day to day. That Memory tackles these significant challenges is admirable, but to then treat them as casual plot points is immensely disappointing and frustrating. The superb performances, contrasting in tone, by Jessica Chastain as Sylvia and Peter Sarsgaard as Saul deserve a much better script, one that would illuminate without histrionics and explain without contrived reveals. Memory is streaming on several platforms.

Festivals Reviews

MEMORY (TIFF 2023) – Review by Liz Braun

September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 Liz Braun Brooke Timber, jessica chastain, Memory, Merritt Wever, Michel Franco, peter sarsgaard, TIFF 2023

The relationship between two broken souls is what Memory investigates, and it’s not always easy to understand — or watch. There are devastating scenes about earlier childhood trauma and the unflinching camera means you may find yourself holding your breath during certain scenes. What distinguishes Memory are the performances from Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, both of whom are emotionally naked throughout and riveting here.

Reviews

MEMORY – Review by T.J. Callahan

April 28, 2022May 1, 2022 T. J. Callahan liam neeson, Memory, thriller

It has been two and a half months since we last saw Liam Neeson kill someone. Well, in the Hollywood timeframe context, that’s just too long. The filmmakers who produce Liam Neeson movies must have a short memory because all Liam Neeson’s films are the same: I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. In Memory, Neeson plays the bad guy with a heart — an assassin who won’t kill children.