Upamanyu Biswas
In her feature debut, ‘Reminiscence,‘ Lisa Joy delves into a dystopian Miami, Florida, affected by flooding and severe temperatures during the day. The struggling populace works during the night and indulges in reliving memories to lessen the bleakness surrounding them. The city’s less fortunate find themselves relegated to the Sunken Coast neighborhood, where criminal elements have gripped the internal structures of a rapidly decaying region, sinking into deeper waters and moral depravity. During his search for Mae, ex-veteran Nick Barrister visits the Sunken Coast quarters to familiarize himself with Mae’s workplace, The Coconut Club, while confronting the desperation of the city’s worst area!
The Fictional Genesis of the Sunken Coast
After the breakout of a war in a world ravaged by climate change, Miami lies partially underwater in ‘Reminiscence.’ Soon after the war, influential people known as land barons bought all the dry land for their use while the rest of the population was left fighting for survival. Consequently, Sunken Coast is a neighborhood where impoverished folk live in squalor as their houses and businesses sink into the turbulent ocean. The place is a fictional construction of writer, producer, and director Lisa Joy, who crafted the narrative for the 2021 science fiction thriller. The region personifies the vast inequality and unrest existing within the ranks of human beings in a dystopian world where the less fortunate are victims of an elite ruling bunch.
While conceiving the setting of ‘Reminiscence,’ Joy wanted to portray the reality of a world where climate change and rising seawaters have already taken a toll. In a Polygon interview, the director said, “I think it’s human nature to almost not be able to fathom great tragedy. [It’s] the same thing with climate change. We’re scared, and we feel helpless, and it’s easy to turn to denial. And the problem is, we can deny it, but our children can’t. And in 30 years, we won’t be able to — and people in other countries won’t be able to, because they’ll be hit harder first.” Interestingly, this plays out in the narrative in a similar fashion. The affluent land barons continue their peaceful existence while the inhabitants of the Sunken Coast are the first to suffer the dangers of flooding.
The director was inspired by real-life floods and sinking cities around the globe when designing the various facets of her dystopian world. She added, “My biggest inspiration came from the world as it is. When I was in prep, there was flooding in Italy. And I was looking at how people had walkways, and the way that they changed their clothing to adapt to this world. And I spent a lot of my childhood in Asia looking at floating markets and night markets.” She was drawn to the beauty of underwater worlds, highlighting the struggles of people who continue to cherish their existence despite the challenges around them.
‘Reminiscence’ was primarily filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana. The production crew also utilized a combination of drone footage of Miami and visual effects to realize the flooded dystopian version of the city. Scenes featuring the Sunken Coast neighborhood were filmed on a set built in the parking lot of an abandoned theme park, Six Flags New Orleans, at 12301 Six Flags Drive in The Big Easy. The park opened as Jazzland in 2000 and was renamed in 2002 after a new leasing deal with Six Flags. It was shut down in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina devastated its property and caused massive damage to its premises. Therefore, despite the Sunken Coast being fictional in conception, it was authentically built by the production team. However, it is still a place that cannot be traced to reality.
Read More: Reminiscence Ending, Explained
