The other night, I watched the film What’s Love Got to Do with It? on BBC iPlayer.  Not the Tina Turner one, the one starring Lily James, Shazad Latif, and Emma Thompson.  I almost didn’t watch it, because reading the synopsis, and seeing the advertising image, I thought I had watched it before.  But, I just wasn’t sure.

Halfway through watching the movie, I still found myself in this same state of uncertainty.  I felt like I had probably seen it before; none of the scenes came as a surprise; but, at the same time, I couldn’t actually remember any of them.  This feeling persisted right up to the end of the film.

So, had I seen the movie before?  I don’t know.  I could easily be convinced that I had, but  while I was watching it I could not have told you what was going to happen next and, when it came, the ending still remained a surprise to me.

And this is not the only movie where I experience this same phenomena.  It happens quite frequently.

What is going on?

Early-onset dementia, or are many movies so increasingly generic to be of no particular memorable note?

Maybe this is actually a sign of a good movie?  One that you can keep watching over and over again and experience the same emotions that you did the first time of watching.  Groundhog Day. 

Now there’s a movie I remember watching.  Or do I?

© Stephanie Snifter

Some days, Stephanie Snifter wouldn’t remember her head unless it was screwed on.