Reminiscence (2021) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Mystery – R – Reminiscence (2021) Movie Review

Director: Lisa Joy

Writer: Lisa Joy (Screenplay)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis, Marina de Tavira, Daniel Wu, Mojean Aria, Brett Cullen

Plot: Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind, navigates the alluring world of the past when his life is changed by new client Mae. A simple case becomes an obsession after she disappears and he fights to learn the truth about her.

Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Reminiscence starts as we meet the private investigator Nick Bannister (Jackman) who works with Watts (Newton) on a project that lets people look into their memories, if handled the right way.

When Nick meets Mae (Ferguson) it starts a romance that will see the pair fall in love, until she vanishes, leading to Nick becoming obsessed with searching for answers, even if it means diving into a crime world, he isn’t ready for.

Thoughts on Reminiscence

Thoughts – Reminiscence is a sci-fi mystery romance following a private investigator who can see memories to help people have peace in life, or uncover the truth about crimes. When the man running the machine falls in love, he will find himself searching through memories for the truth about what happened to her after she vanished. This on paper is a very interesting story, with the design around creating everything involved being fresh and interesting, only the story never ends up feeling engaging enough because we want to know so much more about the world, with more than just a couple of throw away lines about what caused the changes in the world. We do have great performances from Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton, with effects that suit the style of the world.

Final Thoughts – Reminiscence is a film with so much potential, it just doesn’t seem to click together.