I don’t often think about how memory impacts my movie consumption, but this week’s pick Memento (Disc/Download) has brought it to the forefront of my mind. A film I saw twice in the theater during its initial release, but never again in all the years after, I thought I remembered its twists and turns. I thought I remembered the ending. I thought I knew who the good and bad guys were, but I was totally wrong. Turns out, when it comes to this movie, I have amnesia.

Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough film about a vengeful man who has lost his short-term memory asks a lot of its audience. It assumes we’re able to follow as the story is told out of sequence: backward in the color scenes, forward in the black & white scenes, with tattoos and injuries appearing in reverse, their causes unknown. If you make it through with even a vague understanding of the plot, then you might feel pretty smart. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much as a teen and still do now: Memento issues a challenge, and I enjoy being challenged. Technically a neo-noir, the film follows Guy Pearce’s Leonard as he searches for the man he thinks raped and murdered his wife. Characters come into his life (Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano), and you’re never sure if they’re heroes or villains. Ultimately, the whole world seems to be taking advantage of Leonard’s condition, even Leonard himself. There are things he doesn’t want to remember, and it’s easier to move forward if everything beyond the previous five minutes is a black hole.

The story takes place where most of the great noirs have thrived, in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. Lenny’s world is one of cheap motels, dive bars, and abandoned buildings, with keys to rooms and cars he doesn’t remember. Maybe you’ve had a night of heavy drinking where things got fuzzy after a certain point, or maybe you’re looking for one today. While watching Memento, I recommend drinking this Memory Loss cocktail.

Memory Loss

2 oz Rye

½ oz Fernet Branca

½ oz Bénédictine

1 barspoon Maraschino Liqueur

Orange Bitters

Dried Orange Slice

Combine rye, Fernet Branca, Bénédictine, Maraschino Liqueur, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to chill, then strain into a glass filled with one large ice cube. Garnish with a dried orange slice.

Nolan would go on to have the kind of career most filmmakers dream of, delivering hit after hit both critically and commercially. He’s often played with our perception of reality and time, in films like The Prestige, Interstellar, Inception, etc., and in some ways, Memento seems like the forgotten film of his oeuvre . It’s gotten overshadowed, fading from our memories like one of Leonard’s Polaroids shot in reverse. Personally, I may have forgotten the plot, but I’ve never forgotten the unsettled way it makes me feel. Cheers!