Memento Sequence of Events Review Memento was hands down one of the most complex, yet, captivating films I have ever seen. At first, I was somewhat confused at the beginning, but as time in the movie progressed, it was easy to see the recurring pattern in which made this movie so effective. I felt like the theme of this movie’s sequence of events was displayed by showing a complicated snippet of the future in one scene, and then a clarifying part of the past that ties the two time frames together; sort of like a cause-and-effect, except in this case, the audience is presented the effect before the actual cause. In a way, the sequence may also be a representation with how Leonard’s mind works. Because of the injury Leonard sustained in the middle of the night, he is only able to remember his life prior to the incident which, ultimately, limits his ability to create new and long-lasting memories. The film works similarly to his condition because the audience is exposed to unexplained movie scenes that leave us in wonder, much like how Leonard feels after five minutes have passed and he has no idea what he has gotten himself into. The only difference, however, is that the scenes that follow show the audience what happened, whereas Leonard’s only resort of reasoning and knowing come from photographs, writings, and documents. The film as a whole also moves through a spiraling motion. The first scene of the movie is what would have eventually happened to Teddy because of how Leonard’s mind lives for the daily, vengeful hunt for his wife’s “killer,” even though he cannot remember that the person he is chasing has already been caught. Likewise, the story with Sammy Jankis is actually just a fictional representation of Leonard’s own story, with the exception of a few alterations. For example, both Sammy and Leonard have short-term memory disabilities and a wife who is diagnosed with diabetes. Since Leonard’s wife, in fact, was not murdered that night, she could not bear the fact that her husband was unable to create new memories. Because of her disbelief, she decided to have her forgetful husband give her excessive amounts of insulin which led to her death—which is the same thing that happened to Sammy Jankis. This ties with the sequence because it shows how the outcome of that night has haunted his existence, which led him to believe that his only purpose for living now is trying to find his wife’s killer– even though his determined and on-going conceptual cycle for revenge will never stop. All in all, time, memory, and sequence were all the key components this movie needed to successfully express its theatrical theme and focus.