Something borrowed. This is about a man in the near future who makes his living off the past (Hugh Jackman). He has a rig that allows people to relive their memories. He falls for a mysterious woman (Rebecca Ferguson) who shows up at his business one day and then vanishes without a trace. With very few leads, tracking her down will not be easy. Now you can tell that the studio had no idea what to do with this movie. They gave this tepid marketing since this is sci-fi that is hard to sell, and to make matters worse, even the title is unappealing. I mean really, Reminiscence sounds like a rock band from the early '00s. Just like all of the other 2021 Warner Bros. releases, this got a same day release on HBO Max, so I threw caution to the wind and watched this. Well, let's just say that I'm glad I streamed this because I would be upset if I dropped money to see this in a theater. Because nobody is talking about this movie, I had the luxury of watching this with no expectations. That's a nicety I usually only get when something gets dumped on Netflix with no warning, but a rarity when talking about a movie that has a more sizeable budget. For this entire runtime, I couldn't help but be reminded of bigger and better science fiction ventures.
Unless you happen to be new to movies, you're going to see the influences as plain as day. There's Inception, there's Blade Runner, and there's Eternal Sunshine. The story is just standard noir, but this references tropes more than specific films: you've got the mystery, multiple cases that eventually intersect, the femme fatale, and the obsessive detective. All of the above references speak volumes on how unoriginal this is. The only place where I feel like this movie finds success is with the setting. Reminiscence takes place in Miami, but it's Miami that's been permanently altered by climate change. It's too hot to go out during the day, so people become nocturnal. Because everything is underwater except for the taller building, they essentially turned Miami into a dystopian Venice. This is a cool concept that I feel like they don't use to their advantage. Even though this never showcases any new or fresh ideas, I was reasonably engaged by this at the start. The longer it goes on, the more my attention wavered, which made this feel like a chore to get through. This is directed by Lisa Joy of Westworld fame. It did remind me a bit of that misguided third season, and it's not just because of all the familiar faces. Reminiscence is just a piecemeal of better movies that are more worthy of your time. Beautifully filmed and thoughtful script on time, memory and the nature of relationships -- imagined and real. Its artful and builds on film memes from Bladerunner, Inception and other films. Westworld parallel themes sprinkled throughout. Great film. Innovative and non-traditional Stellar supporting cast. Highly recommend.
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