Christopher Nolan’s Memento was based on which short story by Jonathan Nolan?

Christopher Nolan’s Memento was based on Jonathan Nolan’s short story “Memento Mori.”

Jonathan Nolan wrote the short story before Christopher Nolan developed it into the screenplay for the 2000 film. The story and film share the central concept of a man with severe short-term memory loss trying to identify the person responsible for a devastating crime.

Christopher Nolan’s adaptation uses a fragmented narrative. Much of the film’s color sequence runs backward, while black-and-white scenes move forward, causing the audience to experience Leonard Shelby’s uncertainty and dependence on notes, photographs, and tattoos.

The screenplay earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and the film was also nominated for Best Film Editing. “Memento Mori” was later published in Esquire in 2001, after the film’s release.