The Top 10 Best Memory Loss Movies

5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Honestly, this is one of the flicks on my personal “break up movie list.” One that I’ll get around to writing one day. As far as this Memory Loss Movies list goes, it’s a beautifully twisted take on relationships and the pain that memories can bring us. At the center of the film is Joel and Clementine, a couple who do the whole whirlwind romance thing but can’t make it work due to their various eccentricities. Luckily, there’s a handy service that can’t erase your memories of a certain person. It’s the ultimate ghosting technique, because why block someone on social media when you can just block them from your mind? Things aren’t quite that easy though and without their memories to learn from Joel and Clementine are doomed to repeat their mistakes.  

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

While digging through films to put together this list my eyes went wide when I remembered that one of the best Marvel movies also had amnesia at the core of its story. The Winter Soldier is Cap’s old buddy minus his memories (and an arm). Most of the film focuses on the relationship between Cap and Bucky, and how desperate Cap is to get his old friend back. There’s a bit more to the story overall, but the amnesia aspect was big enough to earn it a spot on this Memory Loss Movies list. In Bucky’s case, he was brainwashed to become the ultimate assassin for Mother Russia and has his memories wiped constantly whenever they thaw him out for a mission. Luckily, things manage to work out ok for this dynamic duo, but you’ll have to check out Avengers: Infinity War to see how.

3. Finding Dory

A lot of people might say that Finding Nemo deserves a spot on this list. However, I want to one-up them by picking the sequel that focused primarily on the fish who suffered from short-term memory loss and her quest to rediscover her past. It’s probably the best sequel to come from Pixar and manages to turn what could have been a gimmick into a pretty well fleshed out premise for a film. Of course, Ellen Degeneres is back as everyone’s favorite amnesiac fish and brings that awkward charm she’s so good at. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised that I managed to find two good animated movies to go on this list, but I think they both earned their spots.

2. Memento

The movie that jump-started Christopher Nolan’s career is a twisted thriller about a man who can’t remember anything after his wife died. That kinda puts a hamper on his murder investigation when he loses his memories every few minutes, but it’s a hell of a twist for a film. As far as memory loss movies go, this one is absolutely haunting. I have to hand it to Guy Pearce who delivered one of the best performances of his career and sold a plot device that could have been pretty iffy. It’s a triumph of a movie and one that everyone should see at least once. Told in reverse order, the audience is just as lost as Pearce is at first, but then frightening details slowly come to light. Trust me, this is a film you will definitely never forget.

1. The Bourne Identity

I’m a sucker for the Bourne series, and because of that, I try to include him on as many lists as I can. It just so happens that he’s uniquely qualified to actually head up this list of memory loss movies. For the sake of argument, I’m going to pick the first film since it had the most focus on his amnesia. Like The Long Kiss Goodnight, the Bourne movies are about a government ultra assassin who bumps his head and forgets who he is. Luckily, all of his training and muscle memories are still intact, which raises some very frightening questions for the man with no memories. Things go from bad to worse when the CIA decides he’s a risk and sends operatives to put him down. Oh, I meant that things go from bad to worse for the CIA, because Bourne wrecks them.

I’m sure there are probably other great memory loss movies out there, but I can’t remember them now (I had to say it). So, be sure to let me know what you think of the movies on this list and let me know what movies I’ve forgotten in the comments. There are a ton of great ones out there and I’d love to hear your feedback.