TIFF 2026 Review: In Sabu’s ARRESTED MEMORY, An Endearing Action Comedy Of Errors
Arrested Memory enjoyed its North American Premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival.
Sabu is another filmmaker I’ve been efforting to keep up with in the nearly fourteen years I’ve been writing here. The enjoyable Jam was my first exposure to his work, whereas his latest, Arrested Memory, now makes only my second venture into the mind of one of today’s most celebrated filmmakers.
It took Sabu a long time to get his screenplay off the ground too, with attempts made in Berlin and the U.S. among his several stops before finally setting up shop in Taiwan. The cast is led by Ethan Juan whose select credits include The Liquidator, Wong Ching-Po’s The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon, and a little more recently, Marc Ma’s NYAFF-selected Wolf Hiding, which was also fun.
Juan runs an exhaustive journey of penance, self-discovery, and brutal redemption in Arrested Memory as we follow the story of Lee (Juan), a respected police captain whose latest sting operation goes bust with tragic results. Diagnosed with stress-induced amnesia, Lee is immediately thrust once more onto a kidnapping case that finds him jettisoned into a whirlwind adventure full of chaotic mishaps, wanderlust, and stoic redemption.
After haphazardly busting a junkie named Mad Dog Luke (Akira Huang), Lee and newly assigned partner Ming (Kent Tsai) are forced to drag the suspect to the luxurious home of Japanese businessman Hatta (Shinichi Tsutsumi), wife Kumiko (Reika Kirishima) and translator Miss Tami (Hsieh Ying Xuan), to investigate the disappearance of Hatta’s son. As the case unfolds with the assailants demanding a large sum of money, Lee takes point with a duffel bag full of cash, in a story where – almost plainly – everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
Sabu’s focus on life’s absurdities here in Arrested Memory brings an often daunting reflection full of palatable aspects about people, and upended expectations. Lee’s worsening condition is the biggest factor here, resulting in a series of actions that spell calamity, landing him in hot water as a suspect. Adding to the preposterousness is the Hatta family’s increasing reliance on Luke to help solve the case than on the police who are less than equipped to handle the pressure.
Meanwhile, Lee’s trippy road misadventure takes a turn for the more sobering when rescuing a young woman named Hua (Moon Lee) from a suicidal bender. The moment becomes a catalytic addition to Lee’s quest of psychological descent, contributing a subplot that brews something romantic and meaningful along the way before the film’s climatic finale begins taking shape.
Arrested Memory is bolstered by a myriad of tones and tropes that will appeal to anyone who’s followed Sabu’s work over the years. It’s a decently-paced genre piece with great appeal in its execution, featuring Juan in a role that exudes qualities that are as tangible as they are affirming. He’s tough as nails when he’s outmanned and outgunned, and his judo expertise makes him a force to be reckoned with.
Additionally, Lee’s ailment stands as the core modifier for whether or not he can get himself out of some real thick situations, in addition to some major deadpan laughs. Hallucinations take shape as symptomatic to his condition, even to the point where confabulation upends any notion of what’s real and what isn’t.
Lee’s most vulnerable moments occur well into the film’s second half, conveying as much that he’s not far gone, despite the looming threat that he might very well forget who he is before this riproaring tale reaches its desired conclusion. Static, violent images make clear the depth of the mounting trauma and guilt he’s enduring in between his manic bouts and cognitive decline.
Tsutsumi, who can be seen in a handful of Sabu’s movies dating back to Sabu’s 1996 debut, Dangan Runner, brings substance and delight to the role of Hatta. Actress Hsieh proffers a heavy dose of underhanded laughs as Hatta’s translator, Tami, straddling between her boss’s resolve and the shenanigans of the police.
Enhancing leading man Juan’s idiosyncratic highlights is an array of judo sequences that are sure to please martial arts fans eyeing a judo-centric protagonist. Assembled by award-winning action choreographer Scott Hung in his reunion with Juan since The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon, while the fight scenes aren’t central to the film, the action carries some impressive character highlights for Juan in his latest screenfighting performance.
What rounds out to an ending about as sentimental as something out of Taylor Hackford’s An Officer and a Gentleman is a touching finish for Sabu’s Arrested Memory. If you find yourself dancing in your seat midway into the film, you’re welcome to roll with it, but you’ll be hard-pressed to dismiss this new work from Sabu as anything merely quixotic or uninspired. Quite the opposite.
Writer/Director
SABU
Producers
Roger Huang, Shozo Ichiyama, Justine O.
Cast
Ethan Juan, Hsieh Ying Xuan, Moon Lee, Shinchi Tsutsumi, Reika Kirishima
Cinematography
Jai Ip
Editing
Matthieu Laclau
Production Designer
Chen Po Jen
Costume Designers
Zoey Su
Emma Yuyun Lin
Sound
Chun Tang Tu, Duu Chih Tu
Original Score
Junichi Matsumoto
Production Companies
LHB Films, Fourier Films Inc.
International Sales Agent
Lucky Number
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
