An excellent premise, potential completely not exploited.

What is memory? How do you reconcile what you remember happening, when there exists recordings of every moment? WHY are you recording all these moments? Is the loss of privacy (not just yours, but those around you) really worth the half-hour edit played at your funeral?

That last point really spoiled this for me. When the only use of this technology seems to be for the ‘rememory’, I just don’t see the point! Cutters – those who sift through the memories – have such rules, such ‘code’, that it just adds to the sense of disproportion.

That’s the start. After that, nothing is brought to any satisfactory answers. The ‘twist’ for one character is a bit too sudden; the full importance of another character never explained. And then – it ends. Suddenly. I was waiting for some denouement; it never came.

Nice idea(s), poor exploration. The concept of full memory-recordings is handled much better in Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon.

I thought the premise was fascinating. What if we could place an implant in our brain that would take “snapshots” of our lives at random intervals and allow someone else (a ‘cutter’ in the film’s parlance) to edit the best bits together for our funerals (A “Rememory” is what they called the final film result).

Questions asked by the film about the nature of memory are good ones. Were things REALLY the way we remember them? Should we whitewash over the lives of people who are “human garbage” (in the words of one cutter) to craft a ‘nice’ life for them? Would the cutters be nearly God-like…since the devices (‘Zoe implants’) can capture anything..time spent in the bathroom…the bedroom..those moments we don’t want ANYone to know about.

• SPOILERS AHEAD*

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I only can call it wishy-washy because in the end, the sub-plot involving people opposed to the devices’ use wasn’t clear. The leader of the opposition seeks the implant from a guy who died who was involved in the device’s creation who (I infer) may have been a child molester. But it’s not 100% clear WHY having the dirt on this guy out in public would end the use of the Zoe impants. The ending was a bit of a letdown.

The Final Cut is a fascinating science fiction thriller about the near future when people have implants that record their lives for use in “remembrances” that are like highlight reels of someone’s life. Robin Williams gives an understated and controlled performance as the troubled and emotionally closed “cutter” who edits the lives of others. It opens up all sorts of questions and ideas about our lives, memories and privacy. For me I loved the editing elements and the understated nature of the science fiction that focussed on the ideas and the characters instead of being driving by the technology. A very impressive debut feature by Omar Naim.