Screening Date: 15 May 2025
Screening Time: 7pm
Release Date: 2023
Directors: Michel Franco
Country: Spain, Germany, US
Running Time: 103mins
Rating: MA
Language: English
The story of Sylvia, a woman who can’t forget, and Saul, a man who cannot remember. Starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard.
It’s always a satisfying experience when a movie surprises you. And that is the case with Memory. What starts out seeming to be a stalking drama, then takes three big unexpected turns, each turn confounding our expectations.
Saul is initially thought to be a stalker, but is later revealed to be a gentle man with dementia. We also come to realise that Sylvia’s recollection of her past with Saul is faulty and thanks to the intervention by Saul’s brother, their relationship develops into one of love and connection. Another surprising turn.
There have always been imbalances of power in relationships where money is a looming spectre. In this case, it’s easy to see how past trauma affects the sense of self and how that is a force as much to be reckoned with as the effect of a contemporary condition like dementia. Please don’t be put off, Memory is not a film about dementia. Instead we are invited to witness a drama where two great actors are at work making an all too real human story about all the complexity and delight that love has to offer.
“An absorbing story, acted with superlative delicacy and maturity by Chastain and Sarsgaard.“ The Guardian
