‘Memory’ Acquired by … Ketchup, Sets December 2023 Release Date

A marquee fall festival title has finally found U.S. distribution: Michel Franco’s “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, has been acquired by … Ketchup Entertainment?!

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really know much about Ketchup Entertainment, but they clearly see “Memory” as an awards season hopeful since they’ve just given it a December 2023 release date. Will they have the funds to properly campaign behind it?

This past September, Franco premiered “Memory,” one of the best films of the fall, at Venice. The film garnered positive reviews and Sarsgaard won the Best Actor award for his beautifully rendered performance. And yet, the best it could do was Ketchup. Tough market.

I know it’s been a rough year, with the strikes and the unpredictable, shape-shifting moment the industry is currently having, but a more marquee studio picking up “Memory” should have been a no-brainer scenario. Chastain and Sarsgaard also deserve major awards love, they’re both that good in this film.

I included “Memory” in my wrap-up piece of the 10 Best Films of TIFF 2023. Here’s what I wrote:

“She’s a social worker, he has dementia. Their lives are suddenly blown open and impacted by an unlikely romance. Another stunner from Franco. Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard — both incredible— star in an a film filled with Franco’s usual gloom, but this time around, there’s real heart to the drama. It’ll be one of the best films of the year, if only it can find distribution.”

Prior to “Memory” hitting the fall fests, Chastain and Franco had also completed shooting “Dreams” this past summer in San Francisco. The film, starring Chastain, Isaac Hernandez and Rupert Friend, involves a forbidden romance between a woman and a male ballet dancer. It is set to be released next year.

Franco seems to have really hit an artistic stride with his last few films. One of the unsung works of the decade has been his 2021 shocker “Sundown.” If you haven’t seen that movie, then it’s well worth a look.

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Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ Tops the Best Films of the 1930s, According to 100+ Critics

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Critics Poll: ‘Citizen Kane' Named Best Film of the 1940s

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Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants

It was a closer race than anticipated, but Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” has topped our best of the ’50s poll, besting Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s “Singin’ in the Rain” by just two votes.

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