It’s been 24 years since the Christopher Nolan film ‘Memento’ hit theaters. The big question now is: what was the critical reception, and what are the important themes? Overall, the film was widely regarded as incredible when it was released, but does that opinion hold up? The themes of memories and what constitutes reality for people are still being looked at to this day. A lot of concern comes from how relevant they are today.
Critic Response
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Although it’s 24 years removed from the original showing, a recap of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Memento‘ may be in order. The film follows Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, an insurance investigator who suffers from a memory issue where he’s unable to create new memories. His solution is to tattoo important information on his body, take Polaroid pictures, and write short notes on them as mementos for what’s happening in his life. The film follows him on his quest to seek revenge on his wife’s murderer.
Overall, ‘Memento’ had a very strong critical reception. Rotten Tomatoes has a critic score of 94% and an audience score to match. Metacritic has a similar positive score of 83 for critics and 8.8 for the user rating. The general consensus is that the movie’s use of nonlinear storytelling can cause some confusion, but it adds to the existential dread that the story brings many viewers. It’s also blessed by an all-star cast that delivers some of the best performances of their respective careers.
Even in 2024, this film holds up well. Though the story is a bit reminiscent of the Leonardo DiCaprio-led ‘Shutter Island’ in dealing with memories and sanity, it still predates it and has a better reception on Rotten Tomatoes. With its availability on various streaming services, including for free on Plex, there’s a good chance that it may get another resurgence in popularity.
Themes
‘Memento’ is a suspenseful action-mystery movie on its surface. But once the layers are peeled back, you see that it’s much deeper than that. It’s really an investigation into memory, humanity, and the validity of experience. This is becoming even more relevant with the AI boom and concerns about technological advancement. It seems this may always be relevant, as it’s a pretty common theme.
The protagonist Leonard struggles with creating new memories. He often interacts with the same people throughout the film, but can never remember them. They always seem extremely exasperated at this, but they still seem to love him for the things he stands for. All the interactions between Leonard and those that know him, lead to and interesting exploration on what makes a person different.
On another level, it brings to mind the curiosity of what makes someone an individual. It also leads the viewer to begin questioning what makes them the ethereal ‘them.’ Basically, is a person more made up of each and every memory that led them to be who they are today, or can they be shaped by going toward a goal? It’s a question that doesn’t really have a good answer. In fact, it may not have an answer at all.
Questioning Yourself
It gets even deeper when Leonard himself begins to question the necessity of memory. At one point, it suggests that all you need to do is operate on your feelings. He knows that once his goal is accomplished, he’ll just “know.”
Sadly, this is completely contradicted at the end when he finds out that he has already accomplished his goal of vengeance and is now being used by a cop with questionable motives to get criminals off the street. After watching ‘Memento,’ the viewer will leave the experience with new thoughts about memory and motivations, questioning good from evil and the greater good. It’s an excellent exercise in thought experiment that is just as relevant now as it was 24 years ago at release.
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