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Memoria

Play trailer 1:05 Poster for Memoria PG 2021 2h 16m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 139 Reviews 42% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Ever since being startled by a loud 'bang' at daybreak, Jessica (Tilda Swinton) is unable to sleep. In Bogotá to visit her sister, she befriends Agnes (Jeanne Balibar), an archaeologist studying human remains discovered within a tunnel under construction. Jessica travels to see Agnes at the excavation site. In a small town nearby, she encounters a fish scaler, Hernan (Elkin Diaz). They share memories by the river. As the day comes to a close, Jessica is awakened to a sense of clarity.
Memoria

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Memoria finds writer-director Apichatpong Weerasethakul branching out into English-language filmmaking without forsaking any of his own lyrical cinematic vocabulary.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Nayman The Ringer 07/09/2022
One sequence, set by a riverside outside of Bogotá, depicts the thin line between life and death with heart-stopping clarity, making us aware of the smallest physical movements that prove more mesmerizing and rewarding than the typical spectacle... Go to Full Review
Chandler Levack Globe and Mail 05/09/2022
It’s a beautiful work of cinematic concentration that’s purely Apichatpong. Go to Full Review
Mark Feeney Boston Globe 04/26/2022
2.5/4
You get caught up in it. You don’t ask why. You don’t wonder what’s going on, what will happen next. You just accept it. You trust Weerasethakul. Until about the 100-minute mark (the runtime is 136 minutes), he justifies that trust. Go to Full Review
Maxance Vincent Film Speak Jul 13
B-
The concept of Memoria is so entrancing and unique that it warrants a trip to the cinema just for the aural experience alone. Go to Full Review
Yasser Medina Cinefilia 09/13/2024
7/10
Weerasethakul uses his aesthetics with a certain subtlety to accentuate, between sounds and visual poetry, the link with nature that seems to have been lost among the memories of solitary beings alienated by the urban climate. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
William Stottor Loud and Clear Reviews 07/18/2024
5/5
Memoria is director Apichatpong Weerasethakul at his best and most daring, with its hypnotic tone and startlingly refreshing conclusion. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Emma S @RT83606305 May 11 Well, that's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back. Definitely one for the hardcore slow pace lovers with no real good payoff at the end. Was good to see Tilda again and it was very much in the directors classic meditation on nature style, similar to Kurosawa but with still images instead of slow pans. It got 90% on the critics review but I think they were all arty film lovers. Oh well, good to watch something different I guess. See more Adam W @RT70521003 12/06/2024 Wow, not to everyone's taste, but weirdly entrancing. Breaks all the rules about pacing and lack of coherence but I can say I enjoyed it, if only for it's difference to anything I can remember seeing. For me the only thing I can say I really didn't like was the cause of the boom, won't say anything more for risk of spoiling how you see the film. See more Remi C @RT59887613 08/01/2024 This was the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I wouldn’t even wish a viewing of this on my worst enemy. Please don’t put yourself through the torture. Nothing made sense and I’ll never get those 2 hours back. See more Vil H @RT90179841 10/16/2023 Memoria is a movie you wish you would forget. I tried very hard to dig it, empathise with it, see the director's perspective, to no avail. It's a completely oddball flick. Tedious. Borderline pointless. And pretentious. The takeaway is: two hours of your life that will disappear in the ether for no apparent reason. See more Roberto S @RT34749519 09/12/2023 136 minutes of random scenes with excruciatingly (and unnecesary) long static and silent shots that end up going nowhere, some pseudo-poetic dialogue and a wasted opportunity for Tilda Swinton to show her well-known capabilities as an actress since her character is in a perennial confused state with a catatonic expression on her face and barely saying a word. Most of the scenes stretch far, far, far too long, e.g. a guy sitting in a chair working in a sound console FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES, a 2-plus minutes of Swinton waking up in her darkened room and many more moments like that. There's no discernible story beyond the protagonist hearing a random "boom" sound every now and then. Make no mistake, this is not a "contemplative" movie but an utterly pretentious and soporific one (the rave reviews from many critics just reveal their own pretentiousness as well) that panders to self-important film festivals. If you're looking for a truly meditative cinematic experience watch Bergman's The Silence, Kore-eda's Maborosi, DeBlois' Heima or any other sincere work from a director who really want to create an immersive story instead of selling themselves as a "profound and artistic visionary". As a bonus, I leave you with the most hilarious excerpts of some pompous reviews from people who, unlike me, have achieved a heightened state of artistic and philosophic enlightenment: - "A spiritual and sensorial journey that explores the cosmic bond between humans and nature, past and present, and life and death". - "An untransferable experience that is also shared simultaneously, much like the epiphany of a memory that we remember as our own." - ""What was that sound?” is another way of asking: What do I know about the material world and how it behaves?" - "Memoria is a psychedelically inspired allegory, an impressionistic inquiry into human existence, including ignorance and insight, suffering and enlightenment." See more Danielle T @RT65902796 09/03/2023 Film extraordinaire, sensible, poétique et mystérieux qui parle du passé et de la façon dont il nous influence jusque dans nos gènes et même notre âme, et comment il nous éveille à d'autres réalités plus intérieures, plus sensibles. Si vous avez la chance de le voir en salle, profitez-en ! See more Read all reviews
Memoria

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ever since being startled by a loud 'bang' at daybreak, Jessica (Tilda Swinton) is unable to sleep. In Bogotá to visit her sister, she befriends Agnes (Jeanne Balibar), an archaeologist studying human remains discovered within a tunnel under construction. Jessica travels to see Agnes at the excavation site. In a small town nearby, she encounters a fish scaler, Hernan (Elkin Diaz). They share memories by the river. As the day comes to a close, Jessica is awakened to a sense of clarity.
Director
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Producer
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Diana Bustamante, Simon Field, Keith Griffiths, Charles de Meaux, Michael Weber, Julio Chavezmontes
Screenwriter
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Distributor
NEON
Production Co
Match Factory Productions, Bord Cadre Films, Burning Production, Illumination Films, September Films, X stream Pictures, New Story, iQIYI Pictures, Field of Vision, Doha Film Institute, Anna Sanders Films, Rediance, Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation, Kick the Machine, 185 Films, Sovereign Films, ZDF/Arte, Titan Creative Entertainment, Piano, Louverture Films
Rating
PG (Some Thematic Elements|Brief Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 26, 2021, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Apr 1, 2022
Box Office (Gross USA)
$52.7K
Runtime
2h 16m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)