Film Review: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

A spoiler free review

I just finished watching Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind and let me just say, it is a very special movie. You should watch it at least once. It is a 2004 romance and science fiction movie about two people. They undergo a medical procedure which assures the deletion of all the memory associated with their partner from their brain. The premise might sound a bit odd to you. And it is for sure. But, the way it’s executed is beyond perfection.

The movie begins on a somber note. It continues to seem like a usual romantic movie but, transitions to a unique science fiction after a few scenes. It’s a 2000s movie so it’s bound to make you feel nostalgic. It is shot during the winter season which makes it a perfect watch for this time of the year.

I don’t want to give too much away because the plot is what makes the concept of the movie so strong. Let me just say this, you will be a little confused initially, maybe more in the middle but everything clicks in the end. Is it a happy ending? Well, it’s for you to decide.

Most of the movie is shot in a unique way making excellent use of CGI and visual fx to further solidify and demonstrate the concept of memory erasing. Not gonna lie, the story goes back and forth multiple times which might be a bit confusing for some, but you’ll get the hang of it pretty soon.

The cinematography of the movie is brilliant. The way scenes are shot to make it feel like a trippy experience is phenomenal. As I said earlier, this movie is about memory deletion from the brain, so while doing this procedure, we are shown what goes inside the brain of the one who’s getting their memory deleted. And it’s quite a weird experience. But, the makers have done a great job in making everything feel very convincing and realistic.

Jim Carry and Kate Winslet along with others have acted very well. Especially Jim, he was fully able to convey his feelings through the screen. Kate Winslet’s character is also very interesting. She was a delight to watch, every time she was on screen. Her personality is very bubbly and extroverted which is quite opposite to Jim’s character.

The movie begins in a certain way and also ends in a certain way. It makes you feel that you have travelled with the protagonist throughout the procedure and have reached where he was meant to reach. This might sound confusing to you but you’ll understand what I mean to say after watching the movie.

There are no negatives for this movie according to me except one. The story telling was quite jarring sometimes which was making it difficult to follow along. But other than that, everything is perfect. It’s a very different kind of movie which requires you to connect the dots sometime but I’m pretty sure that it will get more understandable and remarkable after every rewatch.

I got to know about this movie because of Ariana Grande and Alia Bhatt. Ariana’s latest album, eternal sunshine is based on this movie which is a favourite of hers. Her music video for we can’t be friends (wait for your love) is inspired from this movie. It’s my favourite album of hers so I decided to check this movie out which was the reason to create this masterpiece of an album.

Alia Bhatt, a famous bollywood actress named her production house, Eternal Sunshine productions after this movie. She talked about how this is a favourite movie of hers in an interview. So, I thought, if two of my favourite artists like this movie so much, I’m bound to love it and it did not disappoint.

I adore this movie so so much. It’s such a unique lifetime experience. Normally, I don’t like science fiction movies but this one is an exception. It’s available on Netflix. Please watch it and let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.