Reminiscence

Writer-director Lisa Joy's directorial debut has much in common with her previous work in Westworld and shows her taste for dark, depressing universes populated by broken characters. Jackman is compelling as Nick, a man who spends most of his time guiding customers into their favorite moments, until Mae breaks down his walls with one torch song. Newton (fabulous in Westworld) gives another nuanced performance here, even though her character isn't as well-rounded in this supporting role. Ferguson, who had a pivotal role opposite Jackman in The Greatest Showman, once again plays a character who can use her voice (and, in this case, Jessica Rabbit-meets-Kim Basinger femme fatale looks) to seduce any man she targets. The movie's action sequences lean heavily on orchestrated shoot-outs; one in particular makes memorable use of the song "Tainted Love" and is thrilling to watch.

Many have pointed out the similarities between the style of Reminiscence and that of Joy's filmmaker brother-in-law, Christopher Nolan (especially in Inception), as well as parallels to movies like Blade Runner, noir classics, etc. But all movies can be reduced to elevator-pitch equations, and some of those criticisms border on being sexist. Joy's world-building is intriguing; she just leaves a lot of fundamental questions about what happened to that world unanswered, chief among them what exactly the "border wars" were about and how they affected everyone, beyond the tattoos that all of the war's veterans seem to have. In some ways, the first two-thirds of the movie would have made for a thought-provoking TV series like Westworld -- but as a self-contained film it's a bit scattered. Joy knows how to build mesmerizing dark places filled with broken people looking for hope, love, and redemption; now she just needs to refine and polish that vision.