Marjorie Prime (2017)

A service that provides holographic recreations of deceased loved ones allows a woman to come face-to-face with the younger version of her late husband.

Director:

Michael Almereyda

Writers:

Michael Almereyda (written for the screen by), Jordan Harrison (based on the play by)

Stars:

Stephanie Andujar, Hana Colley, Geena Davis

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Stephanie Andujar	...	Julie
Hana Colley	...	2nd Generation Marjorie, Age 10 (as Hana May Colley)
Geena Davis	...	Tess
Hannah Gross	...	Young Marjorie
Jon Hamm	...	Walter
India Reed Kotis	...	Young Tess (as India Kotis)
Leslie Lyles	...	Mrs. Salveson
Cashus Muse	...	Bartender
Tim Robbins	...	Jon
Lois Smith	...	Marjorie
Azumi Tsutsui	...	2nd Generation Marjorie, Age 30
Bill Walters	...	Old Jon (as W.A. Walters)

Storyline

In the near future, a time of artificial intelligence: 86-year-old Marjorie has a handsome new companion who looks like her deceased husband and is programmed to feed the story of her life back to her. What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance?

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Plot Keywords:

dog pound | reference to a mutt the dog | repeated dialogue | reference to a burial | running on a beach | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2017 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Marjorie Prime

Filming Locations:

Amagansett, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,668, 20 August 2017

Gross USA:

$180,608

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$213,858

Company Credits

Production Co:

Passage Pictures (II), 141 Entertainment, BB Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the stage play of the same name. Lois Smith reprises her role as Marjorie, having previously appeared in two productions of the play.

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Connections

References My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

User Reviews

Solid sci-fi coming to terms with flawed memory.

"The future will be here soon enough, you might as well be friendly with it." Marjorie (Lois Smith)

Of my many blessings, memory is not the precise gift of most of my friends. I do excel at giving my impressions rather than facts, a talent itself not always impressive. The slow-moving but serious sci-fi drama, Marjorie Prime, treats a time in the near future when holograms can be created to simulate the presence of loved ones who have died.

As in Spike Jonze's Her, technology is friend and foe at the same time. Such a hologram re-creation is fraught with problems, not the least of which is supplying the creation with accurate memories. Those are as imperfect as William James predicted in his repetitive-copying description, where memories leave accuracy behind with each re-recollection.

This film, an adaptation of Jordan Harrison's Pulitzer nominee, starring Lois Smith in the titular role of an 85 year old calling forth her former husband as a middle-aged man, gently makes that point with the hologram, Walter (Jon Hamm). It asks for information or clarification, moments that break the intimacy spell to remind the living that their loving creations are just that: "I'll remember that now," says stoic, affectless Walter.

Director/writer Michael Almereyda takes the Walter hologram into a static interpretation that belies the humanity and emphasizes the robotic nature of the creation. Emotion is missing, that ineffable element of loving so more important than the physical. In that regard the film succeeds in showing the second-rate nature of remembering facts when juxtaposed with emotion. As an imperfect memorist, I feel much better.

The placid sea-side setting, shot in muted color on Long Island, with the water as emblem of the fluid nature of memory, is effective for relaying the elusive nature of that faculty: "The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some, no memory survives the instant of their passage. Of others, it is confined to a few moments, hours or days. Others, again, leave vestiges which are indestructible, and by means of which they may be recalled as long as life endures." William James

Although Marjorie interacts with more than one hologram (certainly most lives have layers of past loved ones to be recalled if needed), the film accomplishes making us aware of the complex business of remembering, its imperfection, and its reflection of our own uncertain place in the memory of humanity.