''Memory'' is a 2022 American

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Martin Campbell Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand film and television director based in the United Kingdom. He is known for having directed ''The Mask of Zorro'' as well as the James Bond in film, James Bond films ''GoldenEye'' and ''Cas ...

from a screenplay by Dario Scardapane. It is based on the novel ''De Zaak Alzheimer'' by

Jef Geeraerts Jozef Adriaan Anna Geeraerts (23 February 1930 – 11 May 2015), better known as Jef Geeraerts, was a Belgian writer. Geeraerts was born in Antwerp. After his studies in political and administrative sciences at the Colonial University of Belgiu ...

and is a remake of the novel's previous adaptation, the Belgian film ''

The Alzheimer Case ''The Alzheimer Case'' (also known as ''The Alzheimer Affair'' or ''The Memory of a Killer''; nl, De zaak Alzheimer) is a 2003 Belgian action thriller film directed by Erik Van Looy, based on the novel ''De zaak Alzheimer'' by Jef Geeraerts. I ...

''. The film stars

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

as a brooding hitman with early

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

who must go on the run after declining a contract on a young girl;

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young (Neighbours), Mike Young in ...

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French ...

, Harold Torres,

Taj Atwal Taj Atwal (born in December 1987) is a British actress from Norwich, who has appeared in '' Stella'', '' In the Club'', '' Line of Duty'', TV drama ''The Syndicate'' and comedy '' Hullraisers''. Biography Atwal was born in Norwich to an Indian ...

and

Ray Fearon Raymond Fearon is an English actor. He played garage mechanic Nathan Harding on ITV's long-running soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and voiced the centaur Firenze in the Wizarding World film series ''Harry Potter'' and '' Fantastic Beasts''. ...

also star. ''Memory'' was theatrically released in the United States on April 29, 2022 by

Open Road Films Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...

, and received mostly negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Alex Lewis is a contract killer living in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

who suffers from early onset

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

and works for Davana Sealman. He is assigned to kill a man in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, Texas, where he grew up and where his brother lives in residence at a nursing home due to severe Alzheimer's disease. The target of the hit is Ellis Van Camp, a builder for the Texas Central Processing Facility. Meanwhile, Vincent Serra of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

's Child Exploitation Task Force is undercover in El Paso trying to arrest "Papa Leon," a sex trafficker. Vincent kills Papa Leon after the latter takes his daughter Beatriz hostage during the sting operation. Beatriz is taken to the Processing Facility, where she had been held previously, before ending up at a group home. Vincent is frustrated that his domestic investigations into trafficking are frequently foiled. Alex kills Ellis and steals a flash drive from his safe. He finds out his second target is Beatriz, but after breaking into the group home, refuses to kill her as he believes children are "off limits." He threatens William Borden, Davana's lawyer, asking him to cancel the contract on Beatriz. Instead, she is killed by another hitman, Mauricio. The next morning Alex wakes in a hotel room after a one-night stand and sees news of Beatriz's murder. He realizes he is in danger and tells Maya, the woman he is with, to stay in the room before heading for the parking garage. He and Mauricio get into a shootout, during which Maya is killed as she had followed Alex to return his forgotten Alzheimer pills. Alex kills Mauricio and burns both bodies inside Mauricio's car. Alex retreats to a former bakery once owned by his late father where he reviews the stolen flash drive and finds footage of Davana's son, Randy, sexually assaulting Beatriz. To avenge Beatriz, he kills Borden, which causes Randy to panic. Davana tells her son to escape, but he first throws a party on his yacht. Vincent and his team, Mexican police detective Hugo Marquez, and Special Agent Linda Amistead, are investigating the Van Camp murder and realize that the recent crimes are connected because Van Camp and Borden were shot with bullets from the same silenced pistol. They find out that Randy is the owner of the Processing facility, Van Camp was the builder, and Borden was Randy's lawyer, realizing that Randy is likely next. The FBI arrive at the yacht party to save Randy, but Alex kills him first. Outside, he is cornered by Vincent and Marquez but escapes despite Marquez shooting him. Alex recovers inside the bakery but his Alzheimer symptoms are worsening. Narrowly avoiding an FBI raid, Alex infiltrates Davana's penthouse which is heavily guarded by corrupt El Paso police. He shoots his way past several police officers and reaches Davana but forgets that he had removed the firing pin from his pistol and is knocked out by Davana's henchman, Danny Mora. Mora brings him in alive to interrogate him about the flash drive but another officer tells Mora that Alex needs to be taken to the hospital. Vincent, Hugo, and Linda receive a package mailed by Alex containing the flash drive. They find Alex under police custody in the hospital where he tells them that he has evidence of Davana threatening Van Camp but cannot remember where he placed the recording. Davana blackmails her personal doctor into killing Alex, but Alex apprehends him and takes him hostage. The police arrive on scene and mistakenly shoot the hostage, but Alex makes it inside Vincent's car, telling him Davana wishes to bury this (spelling "bury" as "b-e-r-y") before stepping out and being shot dead. Vincent later realizes "b-e-r-y" were the remaining four letters of the sign on the outside the bakery where Alex hid. He finds the recording of Davana threatening Ellis, but is told by the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

that the tape is not enough to prosecute. Vincent is told to take some time off. Soon after, Marquez kills Davana by slitting her throat; Vincent and Linda see the news report of her death at a bar. Vincent realizes that Linda took him out to give him an alibi.

Cast

as Alex Lewis *

as Vincent Serra *

as Davana Sealman * Harold Torres as Hugo Marquez *

as Linda Amistead *

as Gerald Nussbaum *

Daniel de Bourg Daniel de Bourg (born 13 April 1976; ; ) is a British singer, songwriter, and actor. Early life and influences Originally from Chelmsford, Essex, England. By the time de Bourg was eleven, he was offered a full scholarship to study at the Royal ...

as William Borden * Josh Taylor as Randy Sealman *

Ray Stevenson George Raymond Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He is known for playing Dagonet in the film ''King Arthur'' (2004) and Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). He has portrayed two Marv ...

as Detective Danny Mora * Mia Sanchez as Beatriz Leon *

Lee Boardman Lee Boardman (born 2 July 1972) is an English actor and narrator. He has appeared in the films ''Jack the Giant Slayer'' and ''Love's Kitchen'', and the television series ''Rome''. Career Boardman played Murray Priestman in '' Drop Dead Gorge ...

as Mauricio *

Scot Williams Scot Williams (born 29 November 1972), is an English actor, writer, and producer for stage, film and television. Early life Williams is a native of Liverpool, Merseyside and grew up around Penny Lane, a street made famous by the Beatles song. H ...

as Ellis Van Camp * Rebecca Calder as Wendy Van Camp * Stella Stocker as Maya *

Natalie Anderson Natalie Jane Anderson (born on 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Stella Davenport in the medical drama ''The Royal'' from 2005 to 2008 and Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap o ...

as Maryanne Borden * Atanas Srebrev as Dr. Joseph Myers * Antonio Jaramillo as Papa Leon * Doug Rao as Andy Villalobos * Josh Macrena as Howe * J.R. Esposito as Ballard * Vlado Mihailov as Coleman * Sofia Soltess as Emma Van Camp * Tudor Chirila as Luis Matan * Marina Krumova as Madera Matan * Lubomir Buchvarov as Paul * Sigal Diament as Serena * Danay Velinova as Marisol *

Louis Mandylor Louis Mandylor (born Elias Theodosopoulos; 13 September 1966) is an Australian film and television actor. Mandylor played Nick Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), a role he reprised in the sequel ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' (2 ...

as Drunk broker *

Jake Tapper Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show ''The Lead with Jake Tapper'', and co-hosts the Sunday morning public af ...

as Himself (uncredited)

Production

In February 2020, it was announced that

will play an expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision in ''Memory'', an action thriller film directed by

. In April 2021, principal photography commenced in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

with

, Harold Torres,

, and

joining the cast. The project is a joint-venture production between Briarcliff Entertainment,

Black Bear Pictures Black Bear Pictures is a media company that develops, produces and finances original content for film and television. Black Bear is based in Santa Monica, California. Since its 2011 launch, Black Bear's slate has grossed over $300,000,000 worldw ...

, Welle Entertainment, Saville Productions, and Arthur Sarkissian Productions. Rupert Parkes, who previously worked with Campbell on '' The Protege'', composed the film's score.

Release

''Memory'' was released in the United States by

and

Briarcliff Entertainment Tom Ortenberg (born 8 August 1960) is an American businessman. Early life and career Ortenberg was born to a Jewish family on 8 August 1960, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated in 1982. While th ...

on April 29, 2022.

Box office

''Memory'' grossed $7.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $14 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross between $2–5 million from 2,555 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.1 million on its first day and went on to debut to $3.1 million, finishing eighth at the box office. Men made up 51% of the audience during its opening, with those above the age of 25 comprising 84% of ticket sales and those above 45 comprising 46%. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 49% were Caucasian, 20% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 20% African American, and 11% Asian or other. The film earned $1.4 million in its second weekend before dropping out of the box office top ten in its third with $450,038.

Critical response

Audiences polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...

gave it a 66% positive score, with 49% saying they would definitely recommend it.

References

External links

* * {{Martin Campbell 2022 action thriller films 2022 crime drama films 2022 crime thriller films 2022 thriller drama films 2020s English-language films American action thriller films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American remakes of Belgian films American thriller drama films Black Bear Pictures films Films about Alzheimer's disease Films about contract killing in the United States Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films about human trafficking Films based on adaptations Films based on Belgian novels Films directed by Martin Campbell Films scored by Photek Films set in El Paso, Texas Films set in Guadalajara Films shot in Bulgaria Open Road Films films 2020s American films