First off, while this is a movie starring Jim Carrey, it’s far from a comedy, like the movie case might lead one to believe based on some of the critic reviews it includes. I’d classify it as a drama above all else.
The premise for the film came about, according to IMDb trivia, when the director’s friend suggested “You get a card in the mail that says: someone you know has just erased you from their memory.” That’s more or less how it happens to Carrey; his girlfriend, played by Kate Winslet, decided to undergo a procedure to erase him from her mind because she wasn’t feeling satisfied with things in their relationship, without telling him ahead of time. Out of sadness and desperation he decides to do the same, but as we watch his memories of her get erased one by one, we see him come to the realization that he still loves her in spite of her flaws and the toxic relationship they were in. Yet after the procedure is complete and neither remembers even doing the procedure, the two manage to reconnect with each other, eventually learn about the procedure they did to themselves, and give their relationship another go knowing full well how it turned out before.
Why did I choose this as the one to “put me in deep thoughts”? Well, who among us has things they wish they could remove from their memories? Or even certain people? It wouldn’t change history, but how much did that person or event shape us into who we are now? Say we knew someone for ten or twenty years, or even longer – what about us would change, if anything? Would we manage to go on in the same way as before? If it’s a person we try to forget, how would they feel about it? It’s one of the most existential films I’ve ever seen and each time makes me wonder what kinds of changes I’d make to my memory if I could.
Marshall's Matters 