Marjorie Prime

Lois Smith stars as a woman revisiting memories with an AI version of her husband in Michael Almereyda’s deeply human science fiction chamber drama.

It’s 2050 and Marjorie (Lois Smith) is experiencing the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her daughter, Tess (Geena Davis), has installed a program into Marjorie’s sun-dappled beachside home called Prime: an AI service that projects a holographic version of Marjorie’s deceased husband, Walter.

Marjorie selects a dashing younger version of her husband (played by Jon Hamm) – why wouldn’t she? – who helps her remember things. He reminds her to eat breakfast and regales her with stories from their past together. But sometimes Walter Prime also learns things – things he’s not supposed to know and that people don’t want to remember.

Curator’s note

Chamber dramas aren’t common in cinema, but when they do appear, they’re often adapted from theatre, where space is limited and scene changes are minimal. In science fiction, chamber drama adaptations, like Marjorie Prime, are even rarer.

When science fiction films speculate about our futures, a boundless spatial frontier often sets the scene. In Marjorie Prime however, the setting is contained and the narrative concentrates on the more intimate and personal experiences of ageing, loss and memory.

Marjorie Prime won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, awarded to films merging cinema and science.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)