Reminiscence

I was incredibly unmotivated last weekend and canceled plans to see Reminiscence twice before I finally got my act together to see it last night.  Unfortunately, because I waited a few days, I saw some reviews and they were mostly negative so I was not especially looking forward to it.  However, I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  I really liked the premise because it is a neo-noir thriller set in a dystopian future with a tortured protagonist named Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) and a mysterious femme fatale named Mae (Rebecca Ferguson).  Climate change has caused the level of the ocean to rise and temperatures to become more extreme, leading to wars and riots.  Such a bleak existence has forced many people to retreat into their memories.  Nick and a fellow combat veteran, Watts Sanders (Thandiwe Newton), run a business in Miami where people can see and experience their memories again and again and they sometimes use their equipment to help D.A. Avery Castillo (Natalie Martinez) interview incapacitated witnesses.  One night Mae arrives after hours asking to access her memories to find her missing keys.  Nick sees more of her memories than is necessary and falls in love with her.  They begin a relationship but Mae vanishes without a trace after a few months leaving Nick in despair.  Despite warnings from Watts about his reckless behavior, he spends most of his time using the equipment on himself to access his memories of Mae hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts.  Meanwhile, D.A. Castillo requests their help deposing a comatose patient to get evidence against a drug lord named Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) and, when Nick sees Mae in his memories, he realizes that she is not who he thinks she is.  The plot is very convoluted and I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of all of the secondary characters and stories.  It is also quite derivative (it reminded me a lot of Strange Days which is a better movie).  However, I enjoyed the world-building, particularly the depiction of a Miami that is mostly under water, and the images on the screen are often stunning.  The commentary about the division between the rich and poor is very interesting, especially regarding the control of land which is the most valuable resource in this society.  Jackman and Ferguson give great performances and I was always invested in their relationship.  I also liked the action sequences, especially a scene in a ballroom under water.  It is not perfect but there is enough for me to recommend it, especially if you subscribe to HBOMax.