discussion Jessica Chastain gets raves for new film; did she win again?

September 8, 2023

Chastain proves once again why she’s one of the best American actresses working, here a welcome sight without makeup or artifice, freed from the prosthetics and wigs we’ve seen in her recent turns, like Oscar winner “Eyes of Tammy Faye” and her role as troubled country star Tammy Wynette in TV’s “George & Tammy.” “Memory” is more akin to her recent work on HBO’s “Scenes from a Marriage” and onstage in Broadway’s “A Doll’s House”; she’s unvarnished and hiding under no layers as a recovering addict with demons gnawing at her locked door. She’s also an unreliable narrator of her own abuse trauma, which Franco plays with to disorienting narrative effect.

‘Memory’ Review: Jessica Chastain Stuns in Michel Franco’s Melodrama – IndieWire

Chastain can lean a little hard into technique at times, showing the work behind the characterization, and Franco’s writing has a hint or two of textbook psychological study, like making Sylvia a compulsive cleaner as something she can control when her equilibrium feels threatened. But there’s blistering pain in Chastain’s performance, and years of rage behind the reinforced walls Sylvia has put up around herself. The wariness with which she feels her way around tricky situations makes it clear that trust will never come easily to her. Memory is arguably Franco’s most compassionate film — and the best of his English-language features, following Chronic and Sundown.

‘Memory’ Review: Jessica Chastain in Michel Franco’s Moving Drama – The Hollywood Reporter

“Memory” feels like the “Silver Linings Playbook” of Michel Franco’s career: an unexpectedly accessible romance between two damaged human beings, from an independent director who’s been known to put characters through some of life’s most punishing indignities. Chastain has made far more awards-friendly movies than this, but she’s never appeared more vulnerable on-screen — as both the character and a performer willing to tackle what’s sure to be a divisive character.

'Memory' Review: Jessica Chastain and Peter Sargaard Are Unforgettable - Variety

“Memory is a film that, no pun intended, will long linger on the mind because of its measured unfolding of the story and a gut-wrenching central performance by Jessica Chastain”

Venice 2023 review: Memory (Michel Franco) (icsfilm.org)

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