Reminiscence is set in a future after a mini-apocalypse. Sometime in the past, there was a war where it seems every adult fought in. Massive flooding has left most cities covered in water. Income disparity has continually gotten worse. Now only the %1 live on dry land. It has gotten so bad people now pay to relive their best memories, mostly of the before times. Nick (Hugh Jackman) runs a business that allows people to relive their past with a special machine. His best friend and fellow war veteran Watts (Thandiwe Newton) runs it with him. The fact that eventually, no one alive will have money to pay for nostalgia and no one alive will have good memories to relive is never brought up for some reason.
One day, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) comes into the shop. She and Nick immediately hit it off and start dating. But as Nick gets to know her, she seems more and more suspicious. Then one day she disappears. Nick becomes obsessed with finding her. He begins breaking his own rules and reliving his memories with Mae over and over to look for clues. As he learns more and more about Mae his investigations get more and more dangerous.
This movie doesn’t really work. It’s trying to do too much with the memories, a ruined future, the relationship, and a seemingly tacked-on commentary about the income gap. But the real issue is the Nick and Mae love story. Jackman and Ferguson have no chemistry together and the story beats are very rote. The audience doesn’t really have a reason to root for them. The lengths that Nick goes to find her just don’t seem worth it. Especially when the Nick and Watts relationship seems so much more interesting but is relegated to the background.
It’s an interesting concept, the action scenes are good, and the acting is good for the most part. But all in all the movie doesn’t work. Of a rating from HBO Go, HBO Now, and HBO Max, I rate this an HBO Go. Watching a movie with similar themes like Blade Runner, Memento, or Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind would be a much better use of your time.