Reminiscence
Reviewed By: Jeremy Zentner, Reference Assistant
Genre: Science Fiction Film
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Movie About? Nick Bannister is a memory dealer in the flooded city of Miami. The time is the future, when climate change has made islands out of skyscrapers, war has created a generation of wounded veterans, and looking towards the past is big business for a man like Bannister. Since the daytime is too hot to bear, most people sleep in the day and live by the night. Bannister allows people to relive their fondest memories with virtual reality technology, and the tech allows Bannister to view said memories on a holographic projector.
One day, a radiant woman named Mae asks him to find her lost keys through her memory. During their VR search, he discovers that she is a club singer and Bannister finds himself falling in love as he strikes up a relationship with Mae. After months of puppy-love, Mae vanishes without a trace, leaving Bannister to search his own memories in VR to figure out why she left. After the police contract Bannister to retrieve memory from a comatose suspect, Bannister discovers that Mae was not as innocent as he thought, being connected to the suspect’s memory and a massive drug ring. As Bannister continues to investigate, a whirlwind of lust, crime, deception, and conspiracy are unraveled.
My Review: In a sea of hyper-noir drama and cyberpunk action, Reminiscence is sensational when it comes to gritty science fiction. Directed by Lisa Joy, director of the HBO series Westworld, Reminiscence takes the audience on a wild ride through urban decay suffering from climate change. There are interesting points of interest regarding speculative technology and a convincing cast of con-artists, burnt out investigators, kingpins, and corrupt land “barons.”
If you search the internet, you will find a lot of negative reviews. What I will say is that this movie needs to be taken with a grain of salt. If movie-watchers were turned away by every negative review, noir classics like The Big Sleep and Blade Runner would never get off the ground. I’m not saying Reminiscence should be categorized as a classic treasure, but I will say that it is a fun neo-noir, action-packed film that doesn’t deserve the poor reviews it received. But don’t take my word for it. Judge for yourself by checking it out at Fondulac District Library!
Three Words that Describe this Movie: cyberpunk, thriller, mystery
Give This A Try if You Like… Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, Inception, The Matrix, Chappie, Captive State, Strange Days, Total Recall, Existenz, Johnny Mnemonic, Dark City, The Big Sleep
Rating: 4/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
