Marjorie Prime
Description
Michael Almereyda’s complex and moving film introduces us to Walter Prime (Jon Hamm), a hologram meant to help the aged Marjorie (stage legend Lois Smith) recall treasured memories shared with her husband. While he is there to help her remember happier times, his immersive presence ignites feelings and memories both good and troubling for Marjorie, her daughter Tess (Geena Davis), and son-in-law Jon (Tim Robbins). Art-house audiences know Almereyda for his experimental verve from his vampire tale Nadja (Festival 1995) to his modern-day Manhattan spin on Hamlet (Festival 2000) and the period science drama Experimenter (Festival 2015). Inspired by the stage origins of Harrison’s story, Almereyda, the inaugural recipient of the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowship, delivers a high-tech tale that’s grounded, natural, and matter-of-fact. His impressive ensemble rises to the task with Robbins and Davis articulating the anxieties of viewers questioning their own feelings about care of the elderly in the future. Hamm, smart, soft-spoken, and dashing, delivers the deep emotions and meaningful questions at the heart of Harrison’s story. But Almereyda’s main focus is on Smith, who delivers a tour-de-force performance of a role she originated onstage in 2014, bringing real heart to this virtual-reality story. —Steve Ramos
Michael Almereyda, the inaugural recipient of the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowship, made his directing debut with the short A Hero in Our Time (1985) before making his feature debut with Twister (1989). Among his other films are Another Girl, Another Planet (Festival 1993), Nadja (Festival 1995), The Eternal (1998), Hamlet (Festival 2000), Happy Here and Now (2002), This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs The Late Henry Moss (2003), William Eggleston in the Real World (2005), Paradise (2009), Cymbeline (2014), Experimenter (Festival 2015), and Escapes (Festival 2016).
Film Details
Language English
Year 2016
Runtime 99
Country USA
Director Michael Almereyda
Producer Uri Singer
Writer Michael Almereyda
Editor Kathryn J. Schubert
Cinematographer Sean Williams
Music Mica Levi
Cast Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, Lois Smith, Tim Robbins