Psychology technique · used in 4 films
Letting two characters share memories and feelings through a technology or power. Nothing stays private, so trust and old pain both show on screen.
Examples
John Carpenter · 1998
Katrina is bitten, and a psychic link grows between her and the master vampire. Crow uses it to track him, which forces her to share his thoughts without privacy. The link makes her both a victim and a tool.
Where to see it: The link: Crow keeps Katrina alive so that her growing psychic bond with Valek can lead the hunters to him. Valek questions and kills a priest, and she shares it.
Guillermo del Toro · 2013
Jaeger pilots share a mental link called the Drift, so each pilot sees the other's memories. When Mako's memory of the attack that orphaned her takes over, the test goes wrong. The tech turns a private wound into a shared problem.
Where to see it: The failed drift: Mako loses alignment during a test, recalls the childhood Kaiju attack and nearly fires the plasma cannon inside the Shatterdome.
Rajkumar Hirani · 2014
PK absorbs memories and language through touch, which is how he learns Bhojpuri. Holding a person's hand hands him their past in seconds. It makes friendship fast, and it shows how little he knows about boundaries.
Where to see it: PK and Bhairon Singh. The alien befriends a bandmaster and learns his language by absorbing his memories through touch.
Rian Johnson · 2017
Rey and Kylo Ren find they can talk to each other across space through the Force. Neither can hide what they feel, so you see their pain and loneliness before either of them says it aloud.
Where to see it: The Force connection. Rey and Kylo speak to each other from different places and begin to see into each other's lives.
Questions