REMINISCENCE
In loving memory
RELEASED OUT NOW! 12A | 116 minutes
Director Lisa Joy
Cast Hugh Jackman, Rebecca
Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Angela Sarafyan
Westworld co-creator Lisa
Joy wrote and directed this rarest of beasts: a mid-budget, big studio science fiction movie based on an original idea. The fact that it’s a smart, engaging watch is almost a bonus.
Set in a near-future ravaged by climate change, with cities such as Miami now mostly underwater, it follows Nick (Hugh Jackman), a private investigator who specialises in using a machine that allows him to delve into people’s memories. His life is turned upside down after the disappearance of Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), a mysterious client who he has fallen madly in love with. As Nick stalks flooded cities in search of her, Reminiscence reveals itself to be a futuristic detective noir, complete with gangsters, dames and a grandiose voiceover from Jackman.
The dialogue is perhaps not sharp enough to sell the Raymond Chandler-esque artifice, but that doesn’t stop Joy’s future world feeling rich in character and history. The central mystery, meanwhile, is as tightly plotted as Westworld at its early peak, with Joy deftly blending the past and present to wrong-foot the audience with an engrossing series of twists and turns.
It’s not perfect, but it certainly is memorable. Stephen Kelly
The seed of the idea came when Joy found a 50-year-old photo of a mystery woman in her late grandfather’s attic.