A late-in-the-game awards contender, “Memory” dropped its first trailer courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment. Michel Franco’s latest has received mostly strong reviews since its debut at this year’s Venice Film Festival, with TheWrap’s Ben Croll noting that it’s a “bleak drama with a dash of hope.”
Jessica Chastain plays a struggling alcoholic and single mother still coping with past sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Peter Sarsgaard plays a mysterious fellow suffering from early-onset dementia who runs into her at a school reunion and eventually becomes entwined in her life. He claims not to remember what she belives he did to her decades ago, but her work, specifically caring for adults with developmental disabilities, places her in a spot where she is providing care to the person who damaged her life.
The trailer plays up the differing tones throughout the movie, introducing Chastain and Sarsgaard’s characters as two people who no doubt share a past, but it’s unclear what that is or who remembers what. There are moments of levity and charm, with Chastain’s character becoming the man’s caregiver and clearly having some romantic inclinations, but are those to be trusted?
The film also stars Josh Charles, Elsie Fisher and veteran actress Jessica Harper playing Chastain’s mother.
Chastain has appeared in several much-seen and much-touted performances in the likes of “The Help,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Interstellar,” “The Martian” and “It Chapter Two.” Ditto Sarsgaard who has been in films like “The Batman,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Knight and Day.”
Oscar gold has been cited for both performers. Jessica Chastain won an Academy Award in 2022 for her role as Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” She’s been nominated twice previously for “The Help” in 2012 and “Zero Dark Thirty” in 2013. Surprisingly, Sarsgaard has never been nominated for an Oscar despite critically acclaimed turns in the likes of “Shattered Glass” and “Kinsey.” Fingers crossed this will be his year.
The picture will debut in NY and LA on Dec. 22 before going wide on Jan. 5.
Watch the trailer for “Memory” below.