Warner Bros. Pictures
Any detective in the movies would say there are memorable mysteries and then there are cases you forget. Reminiscence wants you to think about how the past can influence the future; but instead it has you dreaming of when you can leave the cinema.
Lisa Joy, the writer and director, is a veteran of HBO’s Westworld, an excellent science fiction television show with a foreboding edge to hook viewers in each week. Sadly, her experience didn’t translate into her concept for her neo-noir thriller movie that’s low on the thrills.
Set in semi-flooded Miami in the future, Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) is a war vet running a special business: he uses futuristic technology to help customers relive their favourite memories. After falling in love with a client named Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) she suddenly goes missing, and Nick goes on a vigilante hunt to find her.
A cornerstone rule in the movies is you need a story with circumstances and stakes that are clear enough to understand. We have to know who each of the main characters, what it is they want and why.
Reminiscence only follows some of this rule, and that’s not good enough to hold our attention for two hours. Yes, we know Nick wants to find Mae. But what does Mae want? What does Nick’s assistant (played by Thandiwe Newton, also from Westworld) want? What dos the bad guy want?
These answers keep getting glossed over, with corny lines like “The truth won’t set you free,” “this path is too dangerous” and “stop looking into his/her business.” Some variation on these come up in almost every scene.
The screenwriting is bland - most explanations for clues in the missing person mystery are generic, soapy, or worst of all, way out of left field. As an audience member, it’s hard knowing what I was supposed to focus on and when I was supposed to reminisce on what I’d already seen.
Lisa Joy’s experience in television doesn’t translate well to the big screen. A TV season has 10-20 episodes that can spin and unravel a mystery with intrigue, but movies have only two hours. When the main story is as intimate as Nick finding a person, you have to be more direct with your plot to keep audiences interested.
On the positive side, the movie oozes cool and does so sincerely. The gritty sets, lighting, cinematography, costumes and effects in climate change-ruined Miami are a fascinating setting. Even the actors moved like they knew danger was lurking right behind them; exploring this environment was the most interesting thing to watch.
It was this same weekend last year that Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was released in theatres, and while it too was a neo-noir sci-fi mystery adventure, it was much clearer knowing who the characters were and why the mission was important.
Without that detail, Reminiscence is just a cool, boring movie. It’s a satisfying and forgettable ending that will leave you with little to think about.
Reminiscence
4 out of 10
PG, 1hr 56mins. Sci-Fi Thriller Mystery.
Written and Directed by Lisa Joy.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton and Cliff Curtis.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, Cineplex Winston Churchill and Cineplex Oakville & VIP. Also available for premium video rental on various services.
