Disclaimer: Irish Film Critic was provided with a free Blu-ray copy of “Reminiscence” in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein belong to Irish Film Critic and are not influenced by Warner Bros. and/or its affiliates, in any way.
Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind, navigates the alluring world of the past when his life is changed by new client Mae. A simple case becomes an obsession after she disappears and he fights to learn the truth about her.
When “Reminiscence” opens, Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), an Investigator of the Mind, and his business partner, Watts (Thandiwe Newton), are bringing in a repeat customer to be submerged and deprogrammed in order to recapture memories of the things or specific times that brought him happiness in his life. As they offhandedly joke about his ability to pay for his services, Nick is accused of being a pushover who has a soft spot that is keeping the bills from being paid. While it seems the two have an excellent relationship of working together, Watts seems to be highly critical of Nick’s actions, yet very familiar with the way he works and the only one who understands what motivates him to achieve results.
When a new client named Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) from Louisiana shows up unexpectedly after hours, Nick is immediately taken aback by her beauty and mystery. While Watts strongly suggests that he not take her in, Nick ignores her plea and soon after, falls head over heels in love with her, and then she suddenly disappears. Against Watt’s wishes, Nick sets out to find Mae unable to believe that she just disappeared, and walked away from him for no reason at all. When Nick becomes totally obsessed with finding Mae that he starts losing his sense of self, things become heated between him and Watts because he starts dangerously submerging himself for extended periods in order to capture anything about her that he may have missed. Watts remains mum about the fact that there were some things revealed about Mae that she kept from Nick, not wanting him to know that she had a dark past that included a dangerous addiction.
The working relationship between Nick and Watts continues to deteriorate as his obsession to find Mae gets way out of hand and as Watts reminds him of his frailties, he becomes combative and reminds her that she has some demons of her own that need to be addressed. As Nick’s search for Mae goes deeper, he finds that he was not the only one who fell under Mae’s spell and he also learns that the entire relationship the two had was a setup in order for her to secure some of his investigative memorabilia. In the midst of Nick’s craziness, he decides that he and Watts can no longer work together, but in the end, he has to research his own memory capabilities after finally being able to solve the mystery surrounding Mae’s disappearance.
The fascinating technology used in the film by director Lisa Joy is a great asset as well as the chivalry Hugh Jackman demonstrated in his quest for finding the greatest love he thought he had ever known. Thandiwe Newton, who is well known for playing protagonist roles, didn’t disappoint as the sidekick who never had a loss for words or opinions. While Hugh Jackman doesn’t have to do much on the big screen in order to keep my attention, watching him fully dressed walking down the street and half-naked submerged in water for most of the film was a treat that really didn’t require a great plot. All in all, the characters were believable and the relationship dynamics kept my attention throughout.
Now available on Digital HD, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD November 9th
