If you want to have a good laugh and a great time at the cinema, to follow the absurd chase of this case, the collapse of reason, and to forget reality for some time, Arrested Memory is quite perfect for just that.
Written by Xiaoyi Wang
Somewhere between Memento (2000) and classic Cantonese detective noir is the new dark comedy crime film Arrested Memory by director SABU. The film is only a little less than an hour and a half long, so between the fires, action, and comedic script, it was no doubt the lightest and most hilarious watch at the Venice Film Festival.
Set in Taipei, the story centers around our detective captain Lee (Ethan Juan, The Assassin), who has just been assigned to a kidnapping case involving the son of an influential Japanese businessman at his new station. Yet he is deeply haunted by the guilt of his past operation, when his entire squad died on the mission. The trauma clings to him in the form of amnesia, and slowly throughout the film, we watch him lose his grip on reality as he investigates this case.
For somebody who can barely remember his own name, he sure is determined to keep his condition from everybody else. So it is no surprise that the investigation descends almost immediately into chaos and an ocean of misunderstandings and subplots. What is especially peculiar about the film is that even though it is centered around our main character, the story is also… not. Things just keep happening to him, with or without his conscious involvement; so yeah, his hands aren’t exactly on the wheel.
Carrying the ransom money, it doesn’t take him long to forget what exactly is in the bag… He rides through a wave of unpredictable accidental encounters across the city with millions in his possession. Pursued by his own team of cops after having stopped replying to them like a corrupt fugitive, and by the gangs. He is in the messiest situation imaginable, but at least he is blissfully unaware of it. Even as just a shell of himself, Lee still has a heart to help and protect those in need. And all that is left are the ghosts of his past brethren.
Director SABU really has the wit to string together the comedy of the situations with brilliant timing. Between the eeriness of Lee’s psychology, the haunting of his past, and the thrill of the genre, with a shade of cool detective noir, SABU finds the perfect place in the film for the most hilarious situations. We, the audience, know more than every character, so even in the most serious situations, we still cackle at just how ridiculously and absurdly the dominoes have fallen for everything to happen.
"The brilliant detective, the dancing girl, the butler, the badass mom, the rich dad, the ghost, the yakuza, and the stupid kidnappers" come together for a mad show where the protagonist has the most insane plot armor despite being everyone’s enemy. The cast plays their respective comedic roles seamlessly, and I couldn’t help but be impressed by Hsieh Ying-shiuan’s performance as the butler and translator between the boy’s parents and the cops. She was absolutely hilarious, despite not having much screen time. Her slightest look or movement conveys so much language. You can always tell exactly what is going through this character’s panicked yet poised mind, making her an incredible force of comedy.
The film’s visuals have that classic jaded neon texture of cosmopolitan cop noirs, with incredibly gripping and dynamic cinematography by Jai Ip. Whether during the slow-motion shots of the flight, a screw-it-all dance sequence at the bar, or speeding through a tunnel only to be interrupted by Lee’s ghosts entering the car, the energetic and tense visuals are all wrapped in a tasteful neon haze of Taipei. Strange and unpredictable.
I hoped for the film to go further into the high concept of the whole situation and lean even more into the surrealism of it all, making us learn more about the main character. The film itself was a good time, but not as memorable as it could have been. You are excited and hooked to see it unravel and go mad, but after the ride, you are left with less than you’d hoped to hold on to.
So if you want to have a good laugh and a great time at the cinema, to follow the absurd chase of this case, the collapse of reason, and to forget reality for some time, this film is quite perfect for just that.
Arrested Memory premiered in competition at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on September 7th, 2026 and will be screened at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal on October 12th.
Photo: Venice Film Festival
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