The Eternal Memory (2023)

For the past twenty-five years Augusto and Paulina have been in love, spending countless hours with one another and enjoying all that life has given them. However, eight years ago, when Augusto was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the couple’s life changed. They now spend every day attempting to remember the good times that they once shared, and dealing with this diagnosis head on. The Eternal Memory is an intimate look at how love and laughs are making their lives possible all these years later.

There’s not much to The Eternal Memory; it’s a straightforward documentary that simply tells the world the story of this couple. There are no frills, no unique twists or turns–just their story; nothing more, nothing less.

With all of that being said, however, The Eternal Memory is challenging to watch–as viewers can see Augusto deteriorate throughout the course of the film. Over and over again Augusto begs for help, pleads with the world for things to work out in his favor–and it’s challenging for him to come to terms with the things that he’s experiencing at this point in his life. Your heart will break little by little as the film progresses, and Augusto becomes more and more fractured. Augusto is the center of this story, regardless of all of the other individuals that play a role in the film–and viewers are aggressively thrown into his orbit the second The Eternal Memory begins. We effectively fall in love with him, care for him in ways similar to Paulina–and we, throughout the duration of the film, feel like we play a role in this relationship.

While, again, there isn’t much more than a straightforward story to follow–The Eternal Memory has the potential to be a bit boring from time to time. Viewers will, regardless of how passionate they feel about Augusto and Paulina throughout the film, more than likely find a time or two in which they struggle to focus. This is, in part, a result of the fashion in which The Eternal Memory is filmed–but it’s also a result of the subject matter. The fact of the matter is that Augusto often takes time to process the information that he is given throughout the course of this documentary, and there are long pauses between bits of dialogue as a result. The Eternal Memory is slow moving and, from time to time, cumbersome–and some viewers will struggle with the film as a result.

I think it’s impossible not to fall in love with Augusto, Paulina, and their story–and viewers will likely find themselves, on more than one occasion, struggling to stomach the daunting details of their lives. The Eternal Memory struggles, however, with pacing and the reality that there are many moments strewn throughout the film that are quite boring and tiresome. Writer-Director Maite Alberdi needs to do a better job of pacing and not leaving so many empty spaces within the film. You’ll likely become emotionally attached and form a bond with the film’s leads, and even though the film struggles at times–its heart is in the right place and will likely reach its audience.

Written & Directed by Maite Alberdi.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10