#Oscar Hopeful Memoria Will Only Screen In One Theater A Time, Never Hit Streaming Or VOD

Weerasethakul explained, “For Memoria, cinema experience is crucial or maybe the only way. Let’s embrace the darkness and dream, one at a time.” Swinton added, “Memoria is the perfect film for this moment … Big cinema or bust … Throughout the universe, in perpetuity…”

As you can see from the trailer above, the sound design looks to play a big part in the theatrical experience of “Memoria.” Here’s the synopsis via NEON:

The film lulls audiences in to almost a dreamlike state, as they settle in to follow Jessica, an expat in Bogota, who, after hearing a jarring sound at daybreak, begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia.

I have to admit, watching the trailer does make me want to see “Memoria.” I say this as someone who just came back last night from his first theater outing in over a year. It was “No Time to Die,” a movie with a title that sounds like an overt warning not to rush out to theaters yet. The film has already opened internationally and is coming to U.S. theaters this Friday, October 8, 2021.

I’m vaccinated and was double-masked the whole time, and I’m also in a city where Covid cases had just fallen to an 11-month low the day before. I specifically waited until after the opening weekend crowds had died down, and chose an assigned seat in the back corner, as far away from others as I could. The theater I was in also had a special air filtering system. Not everyone will have these conditions at their disposal, and there are also people with disabilities who are incapable of visiting a theater.

Is the release strategy for “Memoria” novel or irresponsible and profoundly ableist? You decide.