Tilda Swinton’s Jessica is drawn into Colombia’s landscapes and a surreal soundscape in a journey that defies cinematic conventions.
In Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s latest feature, the filmmaker immerses viewers in a unique blend of mysticism and quiet intensity. The film reaches its peak in a static, lingering shot of a man lying motionless on the ground outside Medellin, with Tilda Swinton’s character Jessica watching over him. Here, time seems to stretch infinitely as the viewer is invited to notice the subtle movements around him—the sway of grass, a whispering breeze—bringing nature’s quiet pulse to the forefront.
Swinton’s Jessica, a British expat living in Colombia, is haunted by an inexplicable thud she hears one night. Describing it as “a big ball of concrete falling into a metal well,” she enlists an audio engineer to recreate the unsettling sound. The tone of the film shifts between the mundane and the surreal as this sound continues to intrude on Jessica’s daily life, prompting a journey from city to jungle that may hold the answers to her haunting experience.
In Memoria, Weerasethakul defies traditional cinematic pacing, allowing viewers to get lost in the landscapes and mysteries Jessica uncovers. The film is a meditation on perception, place, and the boundaries of reality, giving audiences an experience that lingers long after the final frame.
