Chad Hartigan
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Directed by Michel Gondry
influenced Little Fish (2021)
Themes
Directed by Chad Hartigan ( Morris From America ), the film’s love story, between Cooke and Jack O’Connell, is likely to remind many of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind .
Though reminiscent of everything from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Perfect Sense to last year’s Apples , their collaboration doesn’t feel as derivative as it might sound — Emma and Jude’s love may not conquer all, but unlike in Malcolm & Marie we desperately want it to.
That doesn’t deter from its power, and in one particular obvious way (memory), it reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but also because love is love; short or long, and the memories, the briefest of details, can mean the world.
While comparisons to Contagion , Memento , or Amour may come to mind, Little Fish ‘s strongest parallel is perhaps Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in that both melancholic films explore the ups and downs of a particular romance through the lens of loss.
It’s also a cliche to compare a science-fiction romance movie to the incomparable “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” but Hartigan, making his first genuine foray into sc-fi here, must be a fan.
It calls to mind films that traffic in the world of memory, including “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Memento,” and even the Adam Sandler rom-com “50 First Dates.”
She’s one of a string of strong female actors in this international cast, along with Canadian-born Mackenzie Davis (“Halt and Catch Fire”), Israeli Arab Haim Abbass (“The Visitor,” “Lemon Tree”) and Swiss-born Carla Juri (“Morris From America”).