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Memory

The 100 Most Anticipated Movies of 2023

Memory

2023

Michel Franco

Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever, Brooke Timber ...

6.5

257

Drama Sylvia is a social worker who leads a simple, structured life: her daughter, her job, her Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. All of this is thrown into turmoil when Saul follows her home from her high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will have a profound impact on both of them as it opens the door to the past.

	Author	Review
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"Unforgettable performances from Chastain and Sarsgaard (...) It’s also a film that lingers, shifting and expanding in significance, even as the details start to blur"	POS
United States	Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"Chastain and Sarsgaard rise to the challenge of these complex roles. In particular, Sarsgaard finds truth in a gentle man who is constantly forced to reassess his situation and relationship with the people around him"	POS
United Kingdom	Jonathan Romney Screendaily	"Even for Franco’s admirers, who know how pitiless his narratives can be, 'Memory' is likely to feel heavy going"	NEG
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard are riveting as broken people fumbling for connection in Michel Franco’s moving drama"	POS
United States	David Katz The Film Stage	"Chastain and Sarsgaard are just fantastic, and find an ideal emotional register for Franco's dramatic somersaults"	POS
United States	Ben Croll The Wrap	"[It] proves more user-friendly than his previous work"	NEU
United States	Ryan Lattanzio IndieWire	"Chastain has made a point in her career to play only women of inner strength. Sylvia’s isn’t immediate, but it’s there. Watching her hardened outsides come just slightly undone from the inside is as moving as watching Franco’s own do just that as he opens his heart up"	POS
United States	Chase Hutchinson Collider	"Both Chastain and Sarsgaard create moments where they tear through the very soul. Everything they do feels completely and utterly transcendent, pulling us right up into the many agonies at the core of the film"	POS
United States	Rafaela Sales Ross The Playlist	"The result leaves a bitter ick in its treatment of trauma and trust"	NEG
United States	Stephanie Bunbury Deadline	"It is all exactly right in the writing but also in the performances; there is thoughtfulness behind all of it"	POS
United States	Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard glow as wounded souls making a connection (...) unsettling and sometimes beautiful film (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Mark Hanson Slant	"The film reveals itself as a prototypical yet surprisingly tender love story (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Bilge Ebiri Vulture	"[It] has a lot on its mind, and not all of it makes sense. But its two leads are so good together, so weirdly right together, that everything slips away and you just watch them"	NEU
Canada	Chris Bumbray JoBlo	"Magnificently acted and deeply moving"	POS
United Kingdom	David Hughes Time Out	"It’s remarkable that Franco isn’t better known, but those new to his work have two treats in store: this film, and a back catalogue worth digging into (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Caspar Salmon The Daily Beast	"The Oscar winner stars in 'Memory' at the Venice Film Festival, delivering an expectedly towering performance. It’s the convoluted film that doesn’t measure up"	NEG
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"This is an absorbing story, acted with superlative delicacy and maturity by Chastain and Sarsgaard (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Canada	Alexander Harrison Screen Rant	"Everyone is doing great work in 'Memory', and for me, the experience of being swept up in the acting is always worth the price of admission (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Robert Abele Los Angeles Times	"A movie that understands fully how nothing about our lives is a given, and that if you look hard enough at yours, there's always something worth escaping from and running toward"	POS
United States	James Verniere Boston Herald	"Chastain and especially the hirsute Sargaard are terrific"	POS
United States	Peter Travers ABC News	"Fueled by terrific performances from Chastain and Sarsgaard, this impossible love story slowly works its way into your mind and heart. Michel Franco makes sure you'll be moved to tears"	POS

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