10 fascinating films about memory loss

We have prepared a selection of excellent films for you.

Overboard

USA, comedy, 2018

Even if you are a big fan of the 1987 comedy starring the unbeatable duo of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, the remake will not disappoint you.

The creators of the American comedy decided to change the gender of the characters, making the main character the eccentric millionaire Leonardo. The capricious playboy falls overboard from a luxury yacht at night and in the morning cannot even remember his own name. Single mother Kate, who works at a pizzeria and a cleaning company, had a falling out with Leonardo the night before. In response, he threw her cleaning equipment into the water. Taking advantage of the situation, Kate convinces the boor that he is her husband and the father of her three daughters.

Interestingly, the names of the main characters are exactly the same as those of the characters in Titanic.

Rating: IMDb 6, Kinopoisk 6.3

Trance

United Kingdom, France, crime drama, thriller, 2013

Modigliani's painting "Woman with a Fan," worth tens of millions of pounds, disappears from an auction house. The only witness is an employee named Simon. However, due to a head injury sustained during the robbery, he suffers from amnesia. Elizabeth, a hypnotherapist hired by the gangsters, helps Simon reconstruct the events of that day. But will the hero be able to distinguish reality from hypnotic suggestion?

All the actors were hypnotized before filming began.

Rating: IMDb 6.9, Kinopoisk 7.2

Unknown

United Kingdom, thriller, action, 2011

Biochemist Martin Harris and his wife arrive in Berlin for a conference to announce a breakthrough in research. While his wife checks into the hotel, Martin catches a taxi to return to the airport for his briefcase, which he left on the tarmac. Due to a traffic accident, he falls into a coma and wakes up four days later without his documents and some of his memories. His wife refuses to recognize Martin, and his identity has been assumed by another man. With the help of a nurse, a taxi driver, a retired Stasi secret police agent, and a university friend, he tries to figure out what is going on.

Interestingly, the movie poster shows Martin holding a gun, even though he never holds one throughout the entire film.

Rating: IMDb 6.9, Kinopoisk 7.4

Still Alice

USA, UK, drama, 2014

Fifty-year-old Alice Howland has a successful career as a linguist, a happy marriage, and three grown children. Strangely, she begins to forget words. The doctor finds the cause to be early-stage Alzheimer's disease—an incurable and gradually progressive disease of the nervous system that first leads to memory loss, speech loss, and then death. Alice tries her best to fight the disease and at the same time make the most of the time she has left.

The film is based on the book of the same name by neuroscientist Liza Jenow. Julianne Moore won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Alice.

Rating: IMDb 7.5, Kinopoisk 7.5

Memento

USA, detective thriller, 2000

Leonard lives in a cheap motel and travels around the city every day, meeting and questioning different people. He records his observations on Polaroid, makes cheat sheets, and gets strange tattoos on his body. All these actions help him cope with his inability to retain information in his head for long. Every 15 minutes, his short-term memory is completely wiped clean. All he remembers are the events leading up to the terrible tragedy that resulted in the death of Leonard's wife at the hands of an unknown maniac.

Leonardo's condition is actually called anterograde amnesia. It can be caused by a head injury.

Rating: IMDb 8.5, Kinopoisk 7.9

While You Were Sleeping

USA, comedy melodrama, 1995

Lucy, a single woman, sells tickets on the Chicago electric train and dreams of saving money for a trip to Florence. She is also in love with a perfect stranger in a business suit who passes her every day, seemingly without noticing her. One day, as a result of a robbery, he falls onto the tracks. Lucy saves his life and then goes with him to the hospital. It turns out that the stranger in a coma is named Peter. His relatives, who arrive at the hospital, accidentally mistake Lucy for his fiancée. So she becomes part of the big family she never had.

The role of Lucy was written for Demi Moore. But Sandra Bullock convinced the creators that she would play it better, as she had just broken up with her partner after a four-year relationship.

Rating: IMDb 6.7, Kinopoisk 7.5

Before I Go to Sleep

United Kingdom, United States, thriller, 2013

Every new day, Christine starts with a clean slate. She wakes up in an unfamiliar house, next to an unfamiliar man. He introduces himself as her husband Ben and tells her about an accident 20 years ago that caused Christine to lose her memory. But when her husband leaves for work, she receives a call from neurologist Nash, who asks her to check her video camera, where Christine records the events of the previous day. Nash believes Ben is a con artist and secretly tries to help her regain her memory. Which one of them can she trust?

The film is based on the debut novel of the same name by English author S. J. Watson. Incidentally, the mother of director Rowan Joffe also suffered from amnesia.

Rating: IMDb 6.3, Kinopoisk 6.6

Shutter Island

USA, detective thriller, 2009

In 1954, rookie marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. Upon arriving on an island near Boston, he discovers that the clinic's doctors resort to radical, even sinister, methods of treating patients. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, Teddy is stranded on the island, growing more suspicious of his partner, the doctors, the patients, and even his own memory with each passing day.

Want to better understand what's happening on screen? After watching the film, read Dennis Lehane's crime novel of the same name, on which the film is based.

Rating: IMDb 8.1, Kinopoisk 8.5

The Vow

USA, melodrama, 2012

On their wedding anniversary, Leo and Paige are involved in an accident. Everyone survives, but when Paige regains consciousness, she cannot remember anything from the past few years. This includes how she met and fell in love with her husband, developed new interests, and fell out with her family. Leo is determined to save his marriage and win back his beloved's heart by any means necessary. Despite the fact that Paige's parents and her ex stand in his way.

The script for The Vow is based on the true story of Cricket and Kim Carpenter. The couple was lucky enough to overcome their problems, have two children, and raise them. Kim later published a book, which was subsequently adapted for the screen.

Rating: IMDb 6.8, Kinopoisk 7.5

Paycheck

USA, science fiction action film, 2003

Engineer Michael Jennings works on top-secret projects as part of his job, after which his memory of the work is erased. His contracts usually last no more than a couple of months. But one day, billionaire James Retrick offers him a job for several years and an eight-figure fee. For the sake of a secure future, Patrick agrees. But when the job is done and his memory is erased, it turns out that he has waived his rights to the money he earned. On top of that, the FBI is hunting him down.

With the help of an envelope containing ordinary items, the only thing left at his disposal, Michael tries to remember what really happened.

Rating: IMDb 6.3, Kinopoisk 7.1