Memory | |
---|---|
Directed by | Michel Franco |
Written by | Michel Franco |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Yves Cape |
Edited by |
|
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Ketchup Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 99 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2 million [2] [3] |
Memory is a 2023 American drama film starring Jessica Chastain as Sylvia, a single mother and social worker grappling with her past, and Peter Sarsgaard as Saul, a man suffering from early onset dementia, in a story that intertwines their troubled lives following a high school reunion. The film is written and directed by Michel Franco. It also stars Merritt Wever, Brooke Timber, Elsie Fisher, Josh Charles and Jessica Harper. The film is a Mexican-American production. [4]
The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered on 8 September 2023. Sarsgaard won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance. It was released in limited theaters in the United States on December 22, 2023, before expanding wide on January 5, 2024.
Sylvia, a single mother, social worker, and recovering alcoholic, reluctantly attends a high school reunion with her younger sister Olivia. Sylvia is perturbed by a man who sits next to and smiles at her. She leaves the event and is followed home by the man, who waits outside in the rain.
In the morning, Sylvia finds him sleeping outside, wet, and barely responsive. She finds out his name is Saul and phones his brother, Isaac, to retrieve him. At Saul and Isaac's home she is offered an apology: Saul suffers from early onset dementia, causing him to get disoriented and confused, and hindering his ability to recall or create memories.
Sylvia takes Saul to a park to ask why he followed her. Saul says he doesn't know and can't recall meeting her before, which upsets her. Sylvia tells Saul that in high school some of his classmates got her drunk and sexually assaulted her. Sylvia accuses Saul of participating but he insists he doesn't remember that. Enraged, Sylvia steals his necklace with emergency contact info in it, abandons him, changes her mind, returns the necklace, and helps get him home.
Sara, Isaac's daughter, offers Sylvia a second job caring for Saul during the day. Sylvia accepts after Olivia assures her that Saul joined their school after Sylvia transferred out, meaning he didn't assault her.
Sylvia spends time caring for Saul and they bond. Sylvia learns about Saul's deceased wife, a redhead like her, and he befriends Sylvia's teenage daughter Anna. One day, Sylvia and Saul fall asleep on a sofa holding each other and are found by Sara. Uncomfortable with the incident, Sylvia stops her visits. Saul leaves the house on his own to find her and they begin a romantic relationship, upsetting Isaac.
Anna secretly gets acquainted with Sylvia and Olivia's mother, Samantha, as Sylvia always had insisted they never contact her.
At Olivia's home, Sylvia is confronted by Samantha in front of Saul and Anna. Sylvia is scolded by her mother for dating a man with mental health issues and keeping Anna away from her. After she accuses Sylvia of lying about her assault in high school, Sylvia laments she was also sexually assaulted by her late father before that and Samantha's refusal to believe her is what drove her away. Olivia admits she remembers their father taking Sylvia into his room multiple times when they were children. When the younger Olivia asked Samantha about it, she was accused of lying too and slapped.
Retraumatized, Sylvia secludes herself at home as Saul cares for her. Olivia tries to see Sylvia, but is turned away by Anna who asks why she never confirmed Sylvia's abuse by their dad until now. Olivia says she was just a child and never sure if she could trust what she saw.
Sylvia returns to her daily routines with Saul's help. One night, Saul returns from the bathroom but gets confused about which bedroom door is Sylvia's and which is Anna's, so he decides to sit in the hallway. The next day, while alone, Saul falls from Sylvia's balcony and is hospitalized. Sylvia attempts to visit Saul but is stopped by Isaac.
Sylvia attempts to call Saul several times and leaves messages he doesn't respond to. Anna visits Saul's home and sees he has a full-time nurse. He was unable to contact Sylvia because Isaac confiscated his phone and forbade him from leaving the house. Anna convinces Saul to sneak out with her and leads him back to Sylvia who embraces him.
Filming wrapped in New York in May 2022. [5] According to Variety , Chastain recommended Sarsgaard for the role of Saul. [6]
Memory premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on 8 September 2023. [4] [7] [8] It had its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2023. [9] [10] In October 2023, Ketchup Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film. [11] The film was for a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 22, 2023, before a wide release on January 5, 2024. [12] [13] The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2024. [1]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 85% of 111 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.The website's consensus reads: "A searingly powerful union of filmmaker and cast, Memory finds writer/director Michel Franco exploring complex, mature themes brought brilliantly to life by stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard." [14] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [15]
Year | Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Venice International Film Festival | Golden Lion | Michel Franco | Nominated | |
Volpi Cup for Best Actor | Peter Sarsgaard | Won | |||
Independent Spirit Awards | Best Lead Performance | Jessica Chastain | Nominated | ||
2024 | Casting Society of America | Feature Low Budget – Comedy or Drama | Susan Shopmaker | Won |
John Peter Sarsgaard is an American actor. He studied at the Actors Studio, before rising to prominence playing atypical and sometimes villainous roles in film and television.
The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced; this is an honorary award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema.
Angelina is a 1947 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Zampa starring Anna Magnani. The film was presented at the 1947 Venice Film Festival, where Magnani was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress.
Jessica Michelle Chastain is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.
Francesco Carrozzini is an Italian-born director and photographer based in the United States. In 2016, he made his feature directorial debut at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival with the documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation. In 2022, his first narrative feature, The Hanging Sun, closed the 79th Venice International Film Festival. He is known for his portrait photography and has directed music videos for artists including Jay-Z, Lana Del Rey, Beyoncé and Lenny Kravitz. He has also directed commercials for brands such as Apple and Fiat.
The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, organized by Venice Biennale, took place at Venice Lido from 29 August to 8 September 2012. The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and closed with the Out of Competition film The Man Who Laughs, directed by Jean-Pierre Ameris. Terrence Malick's film To the Wonder was met with both boos and cheers from critics at its premiere.
Division Films is a Los Angeles-based film finance and production company established by Wicks Walker in 2012. The company's first film was Spring Breakers starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson. Walker and another producer greenlit the production after Benoît Debie was recruited as cinematographer to work alongside director Harmony Korine and with Selena Gomez added to the cast. Spring Breakers was selected for competition in the 69th Venice Film Festival and released worldwide in 2013.
A Most Violent Year is a 2014 crime drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor, who also co-produced with Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb. It stars Oscar Isaac as a fuel supplier who tries to adhere to his own moral compass amid the rampant violence, corruption and decay that threaten his family and business. The film also stars Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks.
Michel Franco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his film After Lucia that won the Prize Un Certain Regard at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Zain Duraie is a Jordanian director, writer and actress. She is best known for her work on the short film Give Up the Ghost.
Babyteeth is a 2019 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Shannon Murphy from a screenplay by Rita Kalnejais, based upon her stage play of the same name. It stars Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Emily Barclay, Eugene Gilfedder, Essie Davis, and Ben Mendelsohn. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 4 September 2019. It was released in Australia on 23 July 2020 by Universal Pictures and won nine AACTA awards, including Best Film.
The Lost Daughter is a 2021 psychological drama film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante. The film stars Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris. Colman also served as an executive producer.
The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scenes from a Marriage is an American drama television miniseries developed, written and directed by Hagai Levi produced for HBO, and starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. It is an English-language remake of the 1973 Swedish miniseries of the same name by Ingmar Bergman. It was presented at the 2021 Venice Film Festival and it premiered on September 12, 2021, on HBO. For his performance, Isaac was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, with Chastain also earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Film.
The Hanging Sun is a 2022 Italian-British noir thriller film directed by Francesco Carrozzini. It is an adaptation of the 2015 novel Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbø.
Coup! is a 2023 American dark comedy film written and directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman. It stars Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon, Skye P. Marshall, Faran Tahir, Kristine Nielsen, and Fisher Stevens. Sarsgaard and Magnussen also served as executive producers of the film. It is the first collaboration between writer-director team Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman. Set during the 1918 flu pandemic, the film follows a rebellious servant who leads a revolt against his wealthy employer.
The 80th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2023, at Venice Lido in Italy.
The Universal Theory is a 2023 mystery thriller film directed by Timm Kröger, from a screenplay written by Kröger with Roderick Warich.
Ketchup Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company. The company is best known for distributing Picture Day (2012), The Love Punch (2013), The Starving Games (2013), A Royal Night Out (2015), Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets (2021), Hypnotic (2023), Memory (2023), Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024), Weekend in Taipei (2024) and The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024).