Parents' Guide to Rememory

This film feels mired in a swamp between uninvolving mystery and heavy-handed drama. There's some violence (a repeatedly viewed fatal car accident, a workplace shooting, angry confrontations) and spooky stuff that might scare younger viewers -- as when figures from memories show up like ghosts outside of the machine. But audiences are less likely to be turned off by those aspects than they are by Rememory's slow pace and weak payoff. Sam is in it for personal reasons -- he wants to use the memory-recording machine to understand his brother's death. But instead of immediately fulfilling his own quest, he takes on this other question of whether doctor-inventor Gordon was murdered. The two mysteries unravel in a clockwork march toward what are apparently supposed to be surprise answers but seem fairly obvious. And the movie takes its sweet time arriving at those destinations, throwing unconvincing red herrings in viewers' path. The notion of reading others' memories/thoughts to solve mysteries isn't new (Strange Days, Minority Report, etc.), but it could still provide an interesting twist on the murder-mystery procedural. Unfortunately, Rememory only scratches the surface of this potential, while not adding anything compelling to the exploration of repressed memory.

The murder investigation is uninvolving, perhaps because the recorded memories aren't fascinating or emotionally affecting. And while the dredging up of painful memories is sort of like disturbing poisons at the bottom of a river, Rememory doesn't make a strong case for that being a good or bad thing. Certainly it would depend on the individual, but it's unclear what the filmmakers think should be done once these things have come to light. The film also uses some storytelling cheats to get where it's going, further lessening its potential impact. Rememory will likely be best remembered as the late Yelchin's final screen appearance.