Michel Franco’s Memory and Dreams

A double bill of Michel Franco’s two recent films:

Memory (2023)

Dreams (2025)

This two-film spotlight follows another Franco double bill of New Order and Sundown from few years ago. In terms of theme, Dreams is closer aligned to those two films. New Order and Sundown were set in Mexico and depicted violence and class difference. That aspect of class difference is at the core of Dreams but the film also uses that aspect to further examine power dynamics of a relationship and illustrate a commentary on our world today. Dreams could easily be called “The Existing Order” or “Status Quo” to contrast it against the imagined New Order.

Dream carefully

In Dreams, Jennifer (Jessica Chastain) belongs to a wealthy family, the kind that highlights how they are using their wealth to better society via philanthropy including investments in the arts. As Jennifer’s father and brother spell out, it is ok to invest in the community but it is forbidden to have a relationship with those on the lower rungs of society, especially if someone comes from the other side of the border such as Fernando (Isaac Hernández). The forbidden love has been a staple of films from the earliest days (even Shakespeare depicted it) from Hollywood to Indian cinema. Franco isn’t interested in depicting just that kind of film. There are more thorny issues he wants to explore. One such example is Fernando’s illegal border crossing to visit Jennifer. Fernando is a talented ballet dancer and once he crosses the border, he wants to stay with Jennifer. So he goes about depicting his talents outside a ballet performance catching the eye of someone in charge of the San Francisco ballet company. Fernando gets his shot and he duly performs to earn his place. However, Fernando’s illegal status is a source of contention for some around him in the ballet institute and is also a threat of deportation, which does come into play. Fernando’s case isn’t unique here and Franco is using that example to shed a light on countless others in this situation, especially since he shows that the border crossings are fluid only in one direction while restrictive in the other.

The main item of discussion in Dreams has to do with benefits of class privilege which are on display throughout the film, subtle at first, but loud as the film progresses. Class difference governs the relationship between Jennifer and Fernando which is different behind closed walls and the outside world:  they behave as per societal norms when they are in front of others. When the two are alone, Jennifer is more than happy to relinquish all control to Fernando to do as he pleases with her. However, that control is illusionary. Fernando can be control as long as he follows the external rules. Once he breaks those, then the true face of Jennifer is shown. Dreams highlight that it is perfectly acceptable for those on the fringes of society to have dreams of a better life but they have to respect the unwritten rule of modern capitalist society and ensure their dreams don’t interfere with the plans of the wealthy. If someone meddles with the plans of the rich, like Fernando does, there will be consequences and the rich can just easily pick up and get back to their comfortable lives while leaving others to pick up the pieces. The film’s ending illustrates this aspect of our contemporary world perfectly.

Broken Memories

Memory (2023) was released 2 years before Dreams and also stars Jessica Chastain and examines a relationship. However, the relationship in Memory isn’t defined by wealth. It is instead decided by that other aspect which forms a critical aspect of social standing: mental wellbeing. People can be rich or poor but they are ultimately judged how they behave in society. In Memory, Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) is well off financially (not elite like characters in other Franco films but comfortable middle class) yet that doesn’t matter given his behaviour of sleeping outdoors, getting lost and disappearing from home. All these behaviours are put down to his dementia which causes his family, especially his brother, to be protective about Saul. That is why Saul’s brother is wary of Saul’s interactions with Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) especially how the two meet in the first place.

Late one night, Sylvia is aware of being followed by a man (Saul) after she leaves a high school reunion. She notices the man is outside her apartment late at night. The next morning, she finds him sleeping outside her apartment near the garbage bins. Her reaction to discover Saul the next morning is different from her reaction the night before when he was following her. The previous night she thought of him as a threat but the next morning, she clearly sees that he needs help. This is due to her job as a social worker where she deals with people discarded by society. That is why she doesn’t call the police on Saul but instead finds his ID and then goes about calling social officers to assist with Saul. After she learns about Saul’s dementia from her family, she continues to interact with Saul. At first, her interactions feel out of sympathy but it turns out there is another motive. Sylvia recognizes Saul as someone who sexually assaulted her in high school along with his friend. This memory of Sylvia is proven to be false by Sylvia’s sister who finds out that Saul attended the same high school a year after she left that school. This topic isn’t thrown in randomly but points to a past trauma which is further examined near the film’s end causing us to view Sylvia and her interaction with her family in a different light.

The relationship in Memory is between two broken people carrying their trauma and the film shows how their lives are shaped by their past. There is an element of family control depicted in the film as well, like Dreams. Memory and Dreams compliment each together to show how two people can find comfort in a relationship even though others, including their own families and society in general, don’t think the relationship is healthy.

Thorny items to ponder on

The four recently seen Michel Franco films, New Order, Sundown, Memory, Dreams, highlight that he doesn’t make easily classifiable films. His films aren’t commercial nor are they pure art-house. They straddle the boundary in between these two sides. They explore thorny and uncomfortable topics but do so in a framework we are used to. He highlights complicated issues and he may push the envelope slightly but not too much either. Franco’s films have premiered at major film festivals and he has won awards in the past but his isn’t a name that I recall hearing too much about when the festival was completed. I have seen enough to ensure I will look out for his next film.

Two recent films by Michel Franco

New Order (2020, Mexico/France)
Sundown (2021, France/Mexico/Sweden)

Two recent films by Michel Franco take common associations of Mexican crime and beaches and turn them into multi-layered cinematic case studies.

In New Order, there are no beaches but crime is present. The film came out 2 years before the eat-the-rich films Triangle of Sadness (2022) and The Meal (2022). However, unlike those films, New Order takes the poor vs rich depiction and extends that into an actual revolution which morphs into a fascist society. No time period is highlighted in the film yet it feels like a time in the not so distant future. Given the way things have been unraveling in the world over last few years, the film may be considered a documentary one day. The brutal killings, torture and abuse shown in New Order are those that have taken place in countless countries around the world over the last few decades especially in several Latin American nations. Perhaps, there are already some parts of the world where things exist exactly like that shown in the film.

A beach is present in Sundown but so is crime. Although, the crime takes place a lot later in the film. At first, the motives of the main character Neil Bennett (Tim Roth) appear vague and hard to understand until a few memories and snippets of dialogue indicate that his family fortune has been made in the meat processing industry: the killing of animals for profit was part of the Bennett family business handed down to Neil. He never questioned the business and became part of the empire, made money and lived a luxurious life. Yet, somewhere within his psyche he likely felt a sense of guilt and horror when watching animals get killed. Those buried feelings surface in the warm weather of Acapulco when Neil has easy access to beaches, cold beer and women. So instead of leaving Mexico with his family to visit his dying mother in UK, Neil finds an excuse to stay behind, do nothing but watch the sunset on the beach. The film is a mix of dry humour and satire yet the most visible signpost of this style is the character of Alice Bennett (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Neil’s sister, who is aghast at her brother’s lack of empathy and concern. Her behaviour is clearly a sign for how one should interpret the film. As Neil continues to spend time on the Mexican beach, drinking a bucket of beer on a daily basis, his sister continues to manage the family business back in UK after the passing of their mother. Slowly it becomes clear to others around him that Neil has money and that sets in motion a series of criminal events.

Both New Order and Sundown depict class divide in Mexican society but with varying degrees of violence and tone. New Order shows a much starker version which dials up the crime while Sundown lets things quietly idle away saving the violence for the final third.