A man with the ability to enter people's memories takes on the case of a brilliant, troubled sixteen-year-old girl to determine whether she is a sociopath or a victim of trauma.
In the near future or an alternate reality, there are memory detectives, people who have the ability to enter other people's electronically-aided memories. They often are used to resolve psychological conflicts, and sometimes to exonerate someone from a crime. John was at one time the top in this field, but he has been recovering from the death of his wifey, and a stroke. To get back into work the head of the small firm he works for offers him what is supposed to be a simple job - getting 16-year-old Anna to start eating again. However, the "simple job" turns into his most challenging.—Qfal
Blessed with the aptitude to probe into other people's minds, the troubled memory detective, John Washington, receives his first case after a two-year hiatus. To all appearances, persuading the gifted and hunger-striking 16-year-old, Anna, to eat should be an uncomplicated task; however, sinister clouds of a dark past suggest otherwise. Little by little, as Washington develops a strong psychological bond with the disturbed teenager, inevitably, baffling questions arise. Is Anna a victim, or a dangerous sociopath?—Nick Riganas
John has the aptitude to read minds of trouble people, Anna is a brilliant 16-year-old girl who won't eat. John takes on the task of persuading the adolescent to eat, but this simple task isn't ready because Anna has a past so dark, it'll catch John off guard and throw him for a loop.
John and Peter are memory detectives. What this means is that somehow they are able to make people experience memories they would otherwise have trouble accessing. Hypnotism can do this, but whatever they do is different. For one thing, the detective appears in the memories, but only to the viewer and not to the person remembering unless the detective wants that. There is no guarantee the memories are accurate.
At the start of the movie John is in a large house where a young woman not wearing much is attacked by an intruder. Then somehow John sees an event related to his own life. He and his wife Anna lost their son when he was very young and Anna never got over it. For a while, John's skills made it possible for her to go on, but even that eventually wasn't enough.
John has recovered from a stroke, and Sebastian assigns him the case of Anna Greene, a troubled but brilliant and artistically talented teen who lives in a huge mansion and has been kept from leaving due to her problems. Her stepfather Robert wants her institutionalized but John does not think that will be necessary. One possible motivation for Robert: Anna's mom is one of the richest people in the country and if she dies, Robert inherits nothing unless Anna is locked up.
Anna and John have a good relationship, one reason being the name of his late wife. Anna can be nice but mostly she has an attitude. And she is very smart. John succeeds in finding three of Anna's memories, plus a couple of others that don't seem all that important. As a young child, Anna was abused by Robert. In boarding school, Anna is bullied by Susan and several other girls. And later, Anna is with those same girls, who have decided for some reason to be nice to her, when they are poisoned.
Judith watches over Anna at the mansion, but she has a terrible accident and Anna is blamed.
Ortega is in prison for something he didn't do. He accuses Anna's parents of covering up her misdeeds, including the attempted murder of the girls who bullied her. Anna believes a girl nicknamed "Mousey", who was her friend in one of the memories but also bullied by the girls, was responsible for the poisoning.
Sebastian wants to take John off the case and replace him with Peter. Peter is shown working as a memory detective later in the movie. At one point John is accused of attempted murder.
