Memory (2022 film)

Memory is a 2022 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell from a screenplay by Dario Scardapane. It is based on the novel De Zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts and is a remake of the novel's previous adaptation, the Belgian film The Alzheimer Case. The film stars Liam Neeson as an aging hitman with early onset dementia who must go on the run after declining a contract on a young girl; Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal and Ray Fearon also star.
Memory was theatrically released in the United States on April 29, 2022 by Open Road Films, and received generally mixed reviews from critics.
==Plot==
Alex Lewis is a contract killer living in Mexico who suffers from early onstage Alzheimer’s whom works on behalf of Davana Sealman. He is tasked with killing a man in El Paso, Texas named Ellis Van Camp (A Builder for the Texas Central Processing Facility). Alex’s brother turns out to be a resident at a nursing home in El Paso due to his dementia. Meanwhile, Special Agent Vincent Serra (of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force) goes undercover to bring down a sex trafficker named Papillion in El Paso whom is responsible for trafficking his 13-Year-old daughter named Beatriz. Vincent ends up killing Papillion after he takes Beatriz hostage. 
Beatriz is later taken to the Central Processing Facility due to being undocumented but is later placed in Child Protective Services after being granted a protection visa. Meanwhile, Alex ends up killing Ellis and manages to steal flash-drives from his safe containing footage of Davana’s son Randy having sex with Beatriz (statutory rape) which shocks him. Alex is later tasked with killing Beatriz but refuses to do so due to children being off limits to him and tracks down Davana’s lawyer William Borden whom he threatens. However, Beatriz is instead killed by another hitman (Maurizio) which causes Alex to become infuriated and he later decides to seek revenge on Davana. 
After Alex shags up with a woman he meets at a bar upon coming to her aid after a drunken man begins coming onto her, the woman (‘Jane Doe’) is shot dead by Maurizio who also attempts to kill Alex. Alex and Maurizio later get into a shootout which ends with Alex gaining the upper hand and he eventually bombs both Maurizio and Jane Doe’s body after placing them inside Maurizio’s car. Later, Alex also shoots dead William Borden which ultimately causes Davana’s son Randy to panic upon realising that the person who killed both Ellis and William will likely soon come for him. Meanwhile, Vincent begins piecing together the information and he along with Detective Marquez and Special Agent Linda uncover that William was the lawyer for Randy Sealman (who owns the Central Processing Facility) and that Ellis was the builder for the Central Processing Facility whom were both shot with the same exact slug and the 3 then realise that anyone with connections to the facility is ending up dead and realise that Randy Sealman will likely be next. 
After Randy Sealman hosts a party on a yacht, the FBI arrive in an attempt to make sure he doesn’t die. However, Alex manages to kill Randy due to having hidden out on the yacht before the party had even begun. After Alex makes a run for it, he is cornered by Vincent and Marquez but manages to escape despite Marquez inflicting a gunshot wound on him. Alex later recuperates inside his hideout (former bakery which had been owned by his deceased father surrounded by pigeons) and manages to suppress the bleeding. Alex’s alzheimer’s eventually begin worsening but he then makes his way to Davana’s penthouse in an attempt to kill her where he instead shoots dead several Police Officers before being knocked out by Detective Danny Mora. Meanwhile, Davana hires another man to kill Alex as retribution over the death of Randy. 
After Alex is hospitalised, Vincent and Linda retrieve the flash-drives from his hideout containing the evidence of Randy having raped Beatriz. Upon later seeing Alex in hospital (whose ability to speak becomes hindered), Alex informs Vincent that he has evidence of Davana threatening Ellis which should be enough to put her on trial but claims he can’t remember where he placed the recording. After the assassin hired to kill Alex comes for him, Alex instead takes him hostage. Snipers later surround the hospital as Alex walks out with the man hired to kill him as a hostage whom Alex instead kills. Alex later goes inside Vincent’s car and ends up saying that Davana wishes to ‘bery’ him before later waking outside and being shot dead. After Vincent later realises that Alex gave him a clue with the word ‘bery’, he manages to retrieve the recording of Davana threatening Ellis but is instead told by the District Attorney that it will still not be enough to prosecute. Instead, Marquez kills Davana by slitting her throat (whilst masked) and both Vincent and Linda watch the news report at a bar in which Vincent realises that Linda took him to the bar as a means of giving him an alibi.
==Cast==
* Liam Neeson as Alex Lewis
* Guy Pearce as Vincent Serra
* Monica Bellucci as Davana Sealman
* Harold Torres as Hugo Marquez
* Taj Atwal as Linda Amistead
* Ray Fearon as Gerald Nussbaum
* Daniel de Bourg as William Borden
* Josh Taylor as Randy Sealman 
* Ray Stevenson as Detective Danny Mora
* Louis Mandylor as Drunk broker
* Stella Stocker as Maya
* Natalie Anderson as Maryanne Borden
* Atanas Srebrev as Dr. Joseph Myers
==Production==
In February 2020 it was announced that Liam Neeson will play an expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision in Memory, an action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell. In April 2021, principal photography commenced in Bulgaria with Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal, and Ray Fearon joining the cast. The project is a joint-venture production between Briarcliff Entertainment, Open Road Films, Black Bear Pictures, 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 Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment on April 29, 2022.
== Reception ==
===Box office===
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 gave it a 66% positive score, with 49% saying they would definitely recommend it.
==References==
==External links==
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Category:2022 action thriller films
Category:2022 crime drama films
Category:2022 crime thriller films
Category:2022 thriller drama films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:American films
Category:American action thriller films
Category:American crime drama films
Category:American crime thriller films
Category:American remakes of Belgian films
Category:American thriller drama films
Category:Black Bear Pictures films
Category:Films about Alzheimer's disease
Category:Films about contract killing in the United States
Category:Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Category:Films about human trafficking
Category:Films based on adaptations
Category:Films based on Belgian novels
Category:Films directed by Martin Campbell
Category:Films scored by Photek
Category:Films set in El Paso, Texas
Category:Films shot in Bulgaria
Category:Open Road Films films