Memoria

Name: Memoria
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Released: December 26, 2021
Duration: 136 min
Rating: 92
Cast: Agnes Brekke, Constanza Gutierrez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Daniel Toro, Elkin Díaz

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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6.1

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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Memoria

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Movie Details & Credits

Elevation Pictures | Release Date: December 26, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: Agnes Brekke, Constanza Gutierrez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Daniel Toro, Elkin Díaz, Jeanne Balibar, Jerónimo Barón, Juan Pablo Urrego, Tilda Swinton

Summary: A Scottish woman (Tilda Swinton), after hearing a loud ‘bang’ at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia.

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 136 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Mike D'Angelo

Dec 20, 2021

There’s something uniquely intense about hearing an entire audience remain utterly still during a movie’s transporting final minutes, afraid to cough or squeak their seat’s rusty springs or even breathe too loud, for fear of breaking the spell. Memoria inspires that kind of rapture. Experience its full dynamic range. Read full review

100

Tara Brady

Jan 14, 2022

Sound designer Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr’s compositions are as dramatically impactful as Tilda Swinton’s performance is delicately minimalist. Her carefully calibrated movements sit beautifully within the director’s enigmatic images and hypnotic pacing. Read full review

100

Liam Lacey

May 13, 2022

Weeraskathul also explores how identities emerge, dissolve, and connect but he steps onto that shifting ground of memory and experience through a poetic, reverent portal. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Jul 17, 2021

Memoria is more meditation than movie, a transfixing deep-dive into the profound challenges of relating to people and places from the outside in. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Oct 22, 2021

Weerasethakul casts spells, and this is a particularly auditory one, the weaving of a liminal soundspace. Read full review

The Observer (UK) Mark Kermode

Jan 16, 2022

The film takes a fantastical leap that viewers will find either breathtaking or ridiculous – probably a bit of both. Read full review

Mark Feeney

Apr 21, 2022

Memoria isn’t a film about explanation. 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. Then things begin to falter. Read full review

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User Reviews

bertobellamy

Feb 27, 2022

Just like in 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' and 'Cemetery of Splendour,' Apichatpong Weerasethakul presents another dreamy tale about being in deep contact with us, others, and nature.

The Thai director — for the first time filming out of his country — delivers an enigmaticJust like in 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' and 'Cemetery of Splendour,' Apichatpong Weerasethakul presents another dreamy tale about being in deep contact with us, others, and nature.

The Thai director — for the first time filming out of his country — delivers an enigmatic and very powerful story in which sound is the main protagonist. The film may be incomprehensible, but you just have to let yourself go.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

JLuis_001

Jan 30, 2022

This is a beautiful and hypnotic cinematic work made to captivate only a few.
I can't wrap my head around the idea of those who might think otherwise.
Call it pretentious of course, you have grounds for it, but this film is an experience that will only find meaning for those who are willingThis is a beautiful and hypnotic cinematic work made to captivate only a few.
I can't wrap my head around the idea of those who might think otherwise.

Call it pretentious of course, you have grounds for it, but this film is an experience that will only find meaning for those who are willing to enjoy it.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

moviemitch96

May 14, 2022

A very odd yet meditative film in every sense of the word. Tilda Swinton stars as a Scottish woman visiting her ill sister in Columbia where she is awakened one night by strange banging noises that only she can hear. From there, she travels and traverses the vast greens and jungles ofA very odd yet meditative film in every sense of the word. Tilda Swinton stars as a Scottish woman visiting her ill sister in Columbia where she is awakened one night by strange banging noises that only she can hear. From there, she travels and traverses the vast greens and jungles of Columbia in search for answers and discovers some mysterious connections along the way. First off, this is a film that requires an incredible amount of patience. Several scenes are very sedentary and dedicated to showing very minimal activity or even dialogue from the characters involved. In addition to being rather narratively vague,the film is also bound to mystify some but simply confuse others. The biggest draw/highlight for many will likely be Swinton's mesmerizing performance. And while the film is rather unique as a whole, we're left with more questions than answers by the film's end, which proved a little disappointing to me. But overall, besides an always reliable Swinton, it's a film that is incredibly peaceful, thought-provoking, but also frustrating in equal measure thanks largely in part to its cryptic narrative and lack of answers.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

jazzyfizzle

Dec 30, 2021

Memoria is one of those films, where you'll find yourself asking questions and discussing the meanings with your friends weeks after viewing. The pacing slowly rumbles, and sometimes abruptly rumbles you out of your seat, then finally boils over in its third act. Enjoy the ride.

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

Brent_Marchant

Jun 19, 2022

It reaches...and reaches...and reaches...yet its grasp never attains fulfillment, leaving viewers feel as though they're been toyed with for more than two hours for a payoff that's only modestly satisfying at best. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest has its moments of visual andIt reaches...and reaches...and reaches...yet its grasp never attains fulfillment, leaving viewers feel as though they're been toyed with for more than two hours for a payoff that's only modestly satisfying at best. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest has its moments of visual and audio appeal, but its protracted, heavily padded, thin and meandering narrative and half-baked character development is a frustrating follow for even the most patient of viewers. Its exceedingly tiresome still shots (of which there are many) alone push audiences to plead for getting on with it already. Those well-versed in the paranormal and metaphysical will find this an especially tedious watch, given that what the filmmaker is going for is apparent quite early on, yet the picture leaves its spectators haplessly bound to sit through the flotsam that leads to a conclusion with few surprises and little satisfaction. "Memoria" has somehow found a fan base among the art house crowd, but, to be blunt, lofty pretention does not translate to profound insight, and that's an overinflated balloon desperately in need if being popped. And none of this takes into account the peculiar distribution plan that has accompanied this picture's release, one that has made it extremely difficult to screen this one in the first place (though, given the result, maybe that's a good thing). Indeed, how this one managed to walk away with awards like the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize and the Chicago Film Festival's Gold Hugo for Best Feature is truly beyond me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ryan_chen

Dec 31, 2021

Went to see Memoria because of its raving reviews from critics but really couldn't get how in the world did it get such high score here. Amazing acting from Tilda but the whole movie is extremely slow, boring and pretentious, no idea what director is trying to convey here. Maybe it's tooWent to see Memoria because of its raving reviews from critics but really couldn't get how in the world did it get such high score here. Amazing acting from Tilda but the whole movie is extremely slow, boring and pretentious, no idea what director is trying to convey here. Maybe it's too artsy for us to understand.… Expand

6 of 8 users found this helpful62

Chalupacabra

May 26, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One could take a still photo of Tilda Swinton looking befuddled, tape it to one's window and stare at it for two hours and ten minutes, intermittently dropping a heavy object on a hard surface, and the experience would be roughly equal, yet somehow far less tedious than seeing this film.

Calling this a movie would be inaccurate, as that would require some movement. It's an unbearable screensaver of a film with no plot to speak of. I guess they wanted to label it as sci-fi for some reason, so they throw in a random spaceship that has literally nothing to do with anything in the film. It's not sci-fi though, if I had to put a genre to it, I guess I'd go with "assorted stock footage". It's literally a collage of random lingering shots with a couple of actors thrown in so that you can call it cinema and sell tickets.

There is nothing offensive or provoking or even interesting about this film, yet somehow it made me deeply, deeply angry. I guess if you think movies are just supposed to make you feel things, this can be considered a success. A great success, one might say.

If you're one of those people that enjoy being bored to tears, have I got a doozie for you.

Tilda, if you're reading this, I want my money back.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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