The ending of Robert Pattinson’s 2010 drama Remember Me has resurfaced on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Monday (11 September) marks 22 years since two al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked and crashed two commercial planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
The devastating events are referenced (but not shown) in Remember Me’s critically condemned, twist ending.
The coming-of-age romantic drama follows Pattinson’s Tyler as he embarks on a relationship with fellow New York University student Ally (played by Emilie de Ravin).
Viewers are led to believe that the events of the film are taking place in the present day; however, at the end of the film, the date is revealed to be 11 September 2001, the day of the infamous attacks.
At this point, Pattinson’s Tyler has gone to meet his father (played by Pierce Brosnan) in his high-rise New York office building. As the fateful date is revealed, the camera pans out to show that Pattinson is, in fact, standing in 1 World Trade Center.
The film’s conclusion was shared on X/Twitter on Monday by Luis Paez-Pumar, who wrote: “Happy 9/11 to whoever made the bonkers creative decision to end Remember Me (2010) this way.”
“I remember screaming at the screen when this happened. Nothing has ever been more unhinged,” one person responded to the tweet, which has racked up more than 30,000 likes.
“Man I’ve never opened a Wikipedia page faster,” wrote another.
Others defended the film, however. “Isn’t it the whole point? That this was so unexpected, people had lives, plans etc and then it just ended abruptly.”
The controversial ending faced immediate criticism from some reviewers upon its release. Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News wrote: “There’s no shame in exploring tragedy through art. But exploiting it to make your very ordinary movie feel more important? That’s another story.”
Xan Brooks wrote for The Guardian that Pattinson’s character was “stitched into history in a most cheap and tawdry fashion”.
On this historic day, film fans have also remembered the contributions of Fargo star Steve Buscemi, who temporarily returned to his old job as a New York City firefighter to help rescue efforts.
