Reminiscence is a visionary new sci-fi thriller that stars Hugh Jackman, Thandiwe Newton, and Rebecca Ferguson, and here's our breakdown of its first trailer along with insight provided by the filmmakers into the film's world and characters. Reminiscence is the brainchild of Lisa Joy, the co-creator of HBO's Westworld. Joy wrote the story and is making her feature film directorial debut.
Set in the not-too-distant future, Reminiscence is a neo-noir romantic mystery centered on Nick Bannister (Jackman), who is a "private investigator of the mind". Nick's business, which he runs with his partner Watts (Newton), involves technology that allows his clients to live inside their own memories. When a mysterious woman named Mae (Ferguson) asks for Nick's help to find something she lost, it sparks a torrid love affair between the two. But Mae suddenly disappears while a different client's memories implicate her in a series of violent crimes. Driven by his love for Mae and his desire to learn the truth, Nick goes on a personal quest into the dark and dangerous world to find out what Mae's story really is.
The director and cast of Reminiscence previewed the new trailer for Screen Rant and provided fascinating behind-the-scenes details into the story and the world the characters inhabit. Lisa Joy, Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, and Daniel Wu, who plays the bad guy named Saint Joe, took part in the presentation. Here's everything we learned about Reminiscence, which arrives in theaters and will simultaneously release for 31 days on HBO Max on August 20, 2021.
Reminiscence Is Set In A Future Miami That Flooded Because Of Climate Change
Reminiscence is set in a Miami of the future that has been swallowed up by the sea because of climate change, despite the fact that the city built a 20-foot wall that failed to keep the tides at bay. Lisa Joy noted that as she was completing the film, she saw on the news that Miami really is in the process of building a wall to combat the threat of climate change, and the director was bemused that life is quickly reflecting art. Joy also decided not to indicate exactly what year Reminiscence takes place in so that the film would feel more urgent and recognizable while still being a cautionary tale of what the future could end up looking like.
Hugh Jackman said that in Reminiscence's Miami, which is where Nick Bannister lives, the world has become so bad that "people would rather live in the past than in the present". After the war caused by climate change broke out, the poor and disadvantaged were forced to move closer to the coasts and the waters and were left to fend for themselves.
Reminiscence's Technology Allows People To Live Within Their Memories
Nick Bannister and Watts' private eye business involves a technology that allows a person to fully immerse themselves in their own memories. Although the filmmakers declined to name the tech, preferring its secrets to be revealed when watching the film, Thandiwe Newton had effusive praise for Lisa Joy and her team creating the technology practically on set, as opposed to using green screen. According to Newton, Joy promised it would be "something no one's ever done before" and Newton was dazzled to work in the world the production team created from the ground up.
From what's evident in the Reminiscence trailer, Nick and Watts' memory tech uses holographic technology to recreate memories, but a component of it involves immersion in a tank filled with water or some other kind of fluid that's a little reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. A person's memories can also apparently be projected on a movie screen, and the tech has echoes of Blade Runner. The sight of Jackman immersed in a water tank also brings to mind Christopher Nolan's The Prestige and how Wolverine was created by the Weapon X program in the X-Men movies. Reminiscence's time travel-like aspects involving Jackman also evoke X-Men: Days of Future Past.
A War Changed Reminiscence's World
The war that was fought in Reminiscence's past had a profound effect on the world. Miami was especially changed by the war and the flooding of the city. Due to the extreme heat, daytime has become the time the people in Miami sleep to avoid the unsafe glare of the sun, so Miami has become a nocturnal city and all activity is done at night. Nick Bannister fought in the war and he and the film's villain, Saint Joe (Daniel Wu), may have a shared experience in that past conflict. But one of the lasting after-effects of the war that changed society is that "nostalgia became a way of life" because "people didn't have a lot to look forward to" so living in the past became "addictive".
Reminiscence's Heroes: Nick Bannister And Watts
Reminiscence's protagonists are Nick Bannister and Watts, who are partners in the mode of the hard-boiled private eyes of classic Hollywood. According to Joy, Nick and Watts' business is specifically "letting people delve into their memories of past relationships". However, their nostalgia-by-technology business is struggling when the film begins. Nick's love affair with Mae soon grows into a dangerous obsession after she mysteriously vanishes, and it threatens the bond between Watts and Nick.
Joy said she personally flew to Hugh Jackman to pitch Reminiscence to the actor, although Jackman joked that he was sure Joy pitched it to him because "Brad Pitt said no". Newton was also Joy's first choice as Watts, but the director admitted she was worried that it wouldn't be believable that Jackman's Nick and Newton's Watts are just platonic friends. Because Newton is so beautiful, Joy couldn't wrap her head around the idea that a man could be just friends with her. Newton's response was, "I'm an actor. I can act like we're friends." Of course, Joy and Newton worked together in Westworld but Newton wasn't actually in the episode Joy directed so Reminiscence is the first time Joy has directed Newton. Jackman then joked that he's waiting for a call to appear in Westworld but Joy promised the actor that he's got the part.
Mae: The Femme Fatale And Her Disappearance
Rebecca Ferguson plays the mysterious Mae, and Lisa Joy was thrilled the Mission: Impossible star accepted the part. Mae is a femme fatale character in the film noir tradition and her love story and disappearance drive Nick's journey in Reminiscence. Joy praised Ferguson's talents and said that to play Mae, the Swedish actress is essentially portraying five different characters, which will be revealed as each of Mae's secrets are unlocked. In addition, Ferguson sings in the film.
The Villain: Saint Joe
While described in shorthand as the villain of Reminiscence, both Lisa Joy and Daniel Wu promised that his character, Saint Joe, is more complex than a mere black hat bad guy. Wu, an international star, said that he has "worked with American directors and Chinese directors" but that Joy was the "first Chinese-American female director" he's worked with, and the actor praised Joy's vision.
Wu also explained some of Saint Joe's backstory: Unlike Nick Bannister, Joe was interred in the war, possibly for reasons related to his race. Like climate change, racial profiling is another of today's hot-button issues that Reminiscence will address as a science-fiction parable. When the film begins, Saint Joe has moved on and become a crime lord in New Orleans, where he has made a haven for himself. Nick travels to see Saint Joe in New Orleans as part of his investigation as the villain is somehow involved in Mae's disappearance and the crimes she's implicated in.
The Music Of Reminiscence
Rawin Djawadi is the composer for both Westworld and Game of Thrones, and he was Joy's choice to provide the film score for Reminiscence. Joy described the music and the song choices as very important to the film's mood, story, and for illuminating the characters. As Joy slyly noted, "music is the original reminiscence machine."
Director Lisa Joy's Inspiration For Reminiscence
Joy conceived of the idea for Reminiscence while she was vacationing at her grandfather's house in England. She found a photograph of a woman her grandfather had only met once, but he named the house he lived in after her. Joy was intrigued by how powerful a simple trigger for memory is and she began writing Reminiscence "while pregnant and puking in a bucket". While the themes of the film revolve around what would happen if a person could revisit their own memories and could even live within them, Joy joked that she, of course, "wrote a lot of action" to make her film bankable as a big-budget, sci-fi blockbuster. The cast praised Joy's vision and affinity for working with actors and they obviously found the world and concepts of Reminiscence intriguing enough to be a part of.
