Rememory

After a fatal car crash, Sam Bloom (Peter Dinklage) struggles with guilt over his brother’s death. Years later and unable to recall the fading memory of his brother’s dying words, Sam attends a special presentation. Created by psychologist Gordon Dunn (Martin Donovan), Rememory is a small box that promises to record your memories undiluted by either time or emotion. However Sam soon discovers that in the unraveling of a life, not all memories are what they seem.

Rememory’s desaturated melancholia manages to sidestep many common sci-fi movie mistakes…

Director Mark Palansky’s engaging sci-fi mystery is a slow paced tale. With a sombre and sober palette, ‘Rememory’s’ desaturated melancholia manages to sidestep many sci-fi movie mistakes. In particular, rather than obsessing about the futuristic technology at the story’s core, it instead wisely centres on the human dramas affected by it.

In the lead role of Sam, actor Peter Dinklage builds on his already impressive resume. Always engaging whilst gently underplaying his performance, this is a perfect match for the movie and also the surprisingly affecting Julia Ormand cast opposite him. However, in one of his few remaining roles, it is the sadly departed Anton Yeltsin who gives us a glimpse of the quality that was yet to come from this talented thespian.

So, whilst not as excessively showy as other modern sci-fi dramas, ‘Rememory’ shares the tone of Stephen King’s kindred ‘Mindzone’. As a well-made, well thought-out thriller, it never goes for cheap tricks or easy endings and as a result is all the better movie for it.