Casey Chong presents a selection of unforgettable amnesiac movie protagonists…
One of the most fascinating ways of depicting a character in a movie is using amnesia as a plot device to explore the dramatic or comedic side of searching for identity, remembering the past, and discovering the truth. From Rufus Sewell’s John Murdoch’s quest to regain his memory in Dark City, to Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne’s treacherous journey in the popular Bourne film series, and Goldie Hawn’s Joanna Stayton’s transformational arc from a snobbish elitist to a fish-out-of-water blue-collar struggle in Overboard, here are ten of the best amnesiac movie protagonists…
Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch in Dark City (1998)
Imagine waking up in a bathtub with no recollections whatsoever. And that’s exactly what happens to John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) right from the beginning in Dark City. There’s a dead body, too, and a mysterious group of pale-looking men in trench coats nicknamed the Strangers are seemingly obsessed with him. He also encounters Dr. Daniel Schreber (an eccentric Kiefer Sutherland) and crosses paths with the relentless Inspector Frank Bumstead (a perfectly cynical William Hurt), who is in charge of the murder investigation. The movie equally highlights his complex romance with Emma (Jennifer Connelly), a lounge singer who claims to be his wife.
Sewell effectively captures his character’s perplexed state of mind as he tries to figure out what happens to him while searching for the truth. While Sewell anchors the movie, credit also goes to director and co-writer Alex Proyas in his follow-up after The Crow, for his atmospheric visual aesthetic while deftly combining neo-noir mystery and sci-fi thriller. Too bad Dark City didn’t resonate much with audiences at the time of its release, as it barely made back its $27 million budget. The movie has since been reassessed and emerged as a cult classic.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid in Total Recall (1990)
Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall brims with graphic violence and grotesque imagery (the bulging eyes and swelling faces caused by Mars’ thin atmosphere, and the introduction of Kuato, a telepathic mutant physically conjoined to George’s body). Yet Verhoeven’s no-holds-barred direction makes Total Recall such a visceral cinematic experience, and he isn’t afraid to deconstruct a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster into a mean-spirited action-movie exploitation and a pitch-black satire about human consciousness, identity theft, and corporate greed.
At the heart of the movie is Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose Douglas Quaid role blends an everyman character with a wisecracking, one-man action hero. Interestingly, while Schwarzenegger’s role may be physically imposing, he is also portrayed as a vulnerable yet surprisingly human protagonist who’s far from his traditionally indestructible 1980s action-movie persona.
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002-2016)
Once upon a time, no one in their right mind would have bet on Matt Damon to play a physically demanding role, particularly one who can fight and shoot like a pro. And yet, Doug Liman and Universal Pictures, the studio that originally opposed the idea, took a gamble on casting the Good Will Hunting actor in The Bourne Identity. And it worked, thanks to Damon’s grounded persona and the emotional vulnerability of an amnesiac spy, Jason Bourne, trying to uncover the truth across the multi-film Bourne franchise.
He’s far from the suave and glamorous Bond-like character, despite his impressive skill in martial arts and tactical combat, and that’s what makes him believable. When Paul Greengrass took over the franchise, he elevated The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum into a hyper-guerrilla filmmaking style, with his deliberately frenetic camerawork reflecting Bourne’s fragmented mind throughout the movies. Although Damon’s return in Jason Bourne fails to replicate the same creative heights of the original Bourne trilogy, his iconic role remains a pivotal turning point in his career.
Tom Berenger as Dan Merrick in Shattered (1991)
Wolfgang Petersen’s Shattered is best described as a deceptive psychological thriller, complete with a rug-pulling twist you might not have seen coming. The movie boasts an intriguing storytelling hook right from the get-go: Dan Merrick (Tom Berenger) is in a near-fatal car accident. His wife, Judith (Greta Scacchi), miraculously escapes with only minor injuries, while Dan suffers amnesia and even requires a complete facial reconstruction. After recovering, Dan soon learns about Judith’s affair from a few photographs and discovers a costly bill addressed to a pet store owner, who turns out to be a private investigator (Bob Hoskins).
Based on Richard Neely’s novel The Plastic Nightmare, Shattered benefits from Petersen’s briskly paced mystery that keeps you guessing as we follow Dan’s relentless quest to piece the puzzle together, only to discover the shocking truth about his identity. Although the premise comes across as far-fetched, the combination of Petersen’s sleight-of-hand direction and engaging performances all around, notably Tom Berenger’s committed lead performance, keeps everything grounded, and it’s hard not to root for him amid the whirlwind.
Gregory Peck as Dr. Anthony Edwardes in Spellbound (1945)
Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful Spellbound turns the acclaimed psychological thriller inside out by focusing on the internal stakes surrounding Gregory Peck’s Dr. Anthony Edwardes, who arrives at the Green Manors mental hospital as the new director. At first, he comes across as a young, brilliant, and highly articulate doctor, before Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) discovers something is wrong with him during a formal dinner with the doctors. Apparently, he has a severe trauma each time he sees parallel lines on a white background, which in turn triggers his dread-inducing panic attack.
The movie then reaches a turning point where Dr. Anthony Edwardes isn’t who he turns out to be, but his amnesia has suppressed his memory, resulting in one of the movie’s most memorable sequences: the Salvador Dali dream moment used to unlock his fragmented subconscious, revealing a series of surreal imagery from a faceless man to a sloping roof and a giant wheel. Peck’s performance could have easily succumbed to an over-the-top performance while playing such a traumatic character, but his portrayal subtly combines the terrifying yet grounded nature of his deeply psychological condition with raw, emotional vulnerability.
Laura Harring as Rita in Mulholland Drive (2001)
Originally a TV pilot before being stretched into a feature film, David Lynch’s magnum opus, Mulholland Drive, integrates the auteur’s signature dream logic with a dark tale of broken Hollywood dreams, puzzle-box mystery, and identity crisis. Although Naomi Watts steals the show with her dual role as the naïve, hopeful Betty Elms looking for a Hollywood big break before shifting into a deeply depressed Diane Selwyn, the movie is equally worth mentioning for Laura Harring in her haunting performance as “Rita”, who takes the name from the Gilda movie poster starring Rita Hayworth.
Her character suffers from amnesia after the intriguing opening car crash on the titular winding cliffside road in Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains. Harring plays her role brilliantly, with a wide-eyed, clueless detachment, looking helpless as she struggles to remember who she is. Like Naomi Watts’ impressive dual performance, Harring’s Rita character is revealed to be someone else during the crafty second half.
Geena Davis as Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Geena Davis showcases her versatile acting prowess in The Long Kiss Goodnight, beginning with her portrayal of a sweet yet mild-mannered suburban mom and schoolteacher as Samantha Caine. She also happens to be amnesiac after she was found on a beach eight years ago, and while living a happy life with a loving boyfriend and her daughter, she is still trying to search for the truth about her identity.
Part of what makes Davis’ performance such a highlight is the way she seamlessly transitions from an ordinary, gentle homemaker to demonstrating her speedy precision in knife-chopping skills, and at one point, single-handedly taking down an assailant who breaks into her home. Once she remembers who she is, her transformation into a tough and cynical, bleached-blonde Charly Baltimore puts Davis in action mode. Her contrasting on-screen dynamic with Samuel L. Jackson’s down-on-his-luck private investigator Mitch Henessey is classic Shane Black screenwriting repertoire, while Renny Harlin’s assured direction expertly balances a character-driven arc and a high-octane action thriller.
Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby in Memento (2001)
Christopher Nolan’s sophomore effort in Memento is one for the ages: a neo-noir masterpiece that not only showcases his unique directorial flair in telling a story about an amnesiac, former insurance investigator’s (Guy Pearce) quest to find the man who raped and murdered his wife (Jorja Fox) in an innovatively backward narrative structure, but also gives the actor one of his best performances to date.
Pearce stands out with a grounded approach in portraying a man dealing with short-term memory loss, relying on Polaroid snapshots and scribbled notes all over his body, through expressive eyes and subtle gestures rather than a pronounced theatrical style to project his confusion. His role garnered several accolades at numerous film awards from critics’ circles, and it’s a pity this was the only time Pearce appeared in a Christopher Nolan movie so far.
Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Dory (2016)
First appeared in a supporting role, Ellen DeGeneres’s voice performance as Dory, the regal blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss who tries to help the anxious clownfish father Marlin (Albert Brooks) to locate his missing Nemo (Alexander Gould) in Finding Nemo, isn’t just a comic-relief sidekick. Her amnesiac nature allows director and co-writer Andrew Stanton to explore the psychological and emotional aspects of her condition, with DeGeneres’ energetic comic timing contrasting well with her character’s underlying vulnerability.
Then, in 2016, Dory becomes the protagonist of her own movie, Finding Dory, focusing on the forgetful blue tang’s journey to find her parents. Returning director Andrew Stanton could have easily repeated the same formula, but being a Pixar movie that thrives on quality storytelling, he flips the script by delving deeper into Dory’s perspective living with such a chronic disability. Finding Dory was a huge hit, even eclipsing the first movie’s $940.3 million, with over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Goldie Hawn as Joanna Stayton/Annie Proffitt in Overboard (1987)
Three years before Garry Marshall hit the jackpot with the global rom-com sensation Pretty Woman, he directed this late ‘80s screwball comedy showcasing Goldie Hawn at her finest. And that is, the actress’s comedic chops in playing two sides of her characters. In Overboard, she is first introduced as a cocky, pretentious socialite, Joanna Stayton, who looks down on and even belittles someone like Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell), a widowed carpenter who arrives on her luxury yacht to redo her closet. Hawn goes full throttle with her character’s toxic behavior until karma hits her when she falls overboard one day while trying to retrieve her wedding ring on deck.
She then wakes up not remembering who she is, while her husband (Edward Herrmann) chooses to abandon her. This is where the plot kicks into high gear: Dean finds out about her condition and plans to use her for domestic work while taking care of his kids after she refused to pay him the carpentry fee in the first place. He claims she is his wife named Annie, and from here, Hawn’s shifting character arc into a clueless working-class mother trying to cope with a completely different living condition results in a series of comedic chaos.
Who are your favourite amnesiac movie characters? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
