Memory

Dementia can affect individuals in a number of different ways and levels of severity, but the knock-on effect on those loved ones around them can be even more devastating. Writer-director Michel Franco’s Memory addresses this matter head on along with personal trauma, to create a draining drama that counters sorrow against love.

Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) is an adult social worker, single mother and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who has reformed her life over the past 13 years in the hopes of giving her daughter a better life. Her world is structured and organised to keep her safe and on the straight and narrow, but life is blown apart when Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), who suffers from dementia, follows her home from their high school reunion. The encounter changes their lives forever as the two embark on a personal rehabilitation that addresses the demons of the past, and helps each other look forward to the future.

Both Chastain and Sarsgaard dig seriously deep for this project with gut-wrenching performances, both stripping themselves back to their most vulnerable states in a world that barely caters for their individual struggles. Both characters are survivors of their own circumstances and it is touching to see two wounded souls come together for aid and support. Sylvia carries her own baggage and scars that are less visible, some of which are not fully revealed until the end, and this slow drip of information steadily lifts the lid on a traumatic backstory that changes the way we see her character and understand the true nature of her curious personality.

Franco is renowned for his feature films that explore relationships in complex dramatic form and he does it again here with Memory, only this time there is an element of warmth and salvation threaded through the screenplay amongst the suffering. The writing is particularly striking, sometimes stripping human interactions down to silence, with devastating effect. In some sequences, silence is more than enough, and in others, words just flood the screen in a display of despair and passion.

This movie is very honest in its approach, leaving the possibility of a disturbing narrative behind and instead acknowledging the natural emotions of its lead characters. The real fear for Saul is not knowing which door leads to your bedroom, not knowing how to get home from the park and not remembering how you ended up in hospital, and the viewer feels every innocent scenario with a painful intensity. Ultimately, Memory is an absorbing film that makes you feel every inch of it, and Chastain and Sarsgaard deliver this through sophisticated and talented performances.

Guy Lambert

Memory does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Venice Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Venice Film Festival website here.