Total Recall

A person is seated in a futuristic chair with two large mechanical devices positioned on either side of the head, inside a high-tech environment with illuminated panels and machinery.

“Would you like to ski Antarctica but you’re snowed under with work? Do you dream of a vacation at the bottom of the ocean, but you can’t float the bill? Have you always wanted to climb the mountains of Mars, but now you’re over the hill? Then come to Rekall Incorporated, where you can buy the memory of your ideal vacation, cheaper, safer, and better than the real thing.”

In the year 2084, blue-collar worker Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is restless with the tedium of life. In an effort to shake-up his routine, Quaid visits Rekall Incorporated, a company that promises to implant its customers with the memory of one’s dream vacation. However, the memory implantation process is seemingly interrupted, leading Quaid to escape at the pursuit of Rekall employees, leading him on a grandiose adventure to Mars that calls into question his past, his identity, and the reality of his experiences.

Paul Verhoeven’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale adds a layer of ambiguity to the main character’s experience with Rekall. Is this interplanetary chase actually happening, or did Quaid get exactly what he paid for at Rekall Incorporated?

Part of our "Human Resources" series. Courtesy of Rialto Pictures.

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