5 Best Movies With A Memory Loss Twist
It was 20 years ago that we were blessed with the release of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, though it’d be understandable if you forgot. Yet the modern classic starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet remains as relevant as ever. This very month, pop star Ariana Grande released her acclaimed album eternal sunshine, inspired by the movie. Her latest music video, which also stars Evan Peters, for “we can’t be friends” directly alludes to the movie as her character goes through the process of wiping her memory of a past love.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favorites, so in honor of the anniversary, I thought it’d be fun to look back at five other movies that deal with memory loss, even if it didn’t happen by choice like it did for Clementine and Joel.
50 First Dates
Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler reunite for another rom com after their success with 1998’s The Wedding Singer. This time, Adam Sandler plays Henry, an exotic animal veterinarian who meets and falls for Lucy, played by Drew Barrymore. Unfortunately, a car accident has left her with a form of amnesia where she loses her memory of the previous day every time she goes to sleep. While the movie unsurprisingly plays fast and loose with how amnesia typically works, the leads’ chemistry has made this an audience favorite for two decades.
Memento
Christopher Nolan finally won an Oscar for Oppenheimer, his breakout film came in 2000 with Memento. Guy Pearce plays the amnesiac lead who uses Polaroids and tattoos to aid him in his memory loss as he tries to find his late wife’s attacker. The film uses black-and-white sequences in chronological order while uses color sequences in reverse to allow the audience to experience the same memory loss as the main character.
The Vow
In this tear-jerker, Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum star as Paige and Leo, a happily married couple, when a car crash puts Paige into a medically induced coma that costs her the last few years of her memory, which encompasses her time with Leo. It’s loosely based on a true story and sees Leo fighting for his love and relationship with Paige when she no longer remembers him or their love for one another.
Total Recall
Whether it’s the 1990 version starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone or the 2012 remake starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel, this is a dystopian sci-fi film where it’s unclear whether the main character is experiencing false planted memories or real suppressed ones where he works as a spy. Is his wife really his wife or has that all been part of the ruse by the intelligence agency?
Memory
Liam Neeson is back in another action-thriller in the newest movie on the list. He plays a hit man with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. An assignment brings him to his hometown of El Paso, and he soon finds himself working against the very people who hired him. His worsening symptoms complicate his already dangerous mission while the FBI is already on his tail. Memory is available to rent at the Kiosk.