‘Reminiscence’ star Rebecca Ferguson breaks down film that chases the past in a dystopian future

Rebecca Ferguson’s starring role in a film about chasing the past left her thinking about who we are in the present.

In “Reminiscence,” Ferguson plays a mysterious woman who suddenly disappears during a torrid romance with Hugh Jackman’s character, prompting him to go on an exhaustive search for her.

“The whole chasing the past is one thing,” Ferguson told the Daily News. “I love the fact that he gets so obsessed with it — it becomes a drug. We’re so locked into a thought.”

“But I was more interested in the idea that we’re constantly seen and judged through the eyes of whoever sees and judges,” Ferguson said. “We’re constantly trying to shape-shift ourselves into acceptance in society. It’s interesting, and it has me think, ‘Do I love myself the way I am? How do I change? How do I adapt? Why do I adapt? Out of necessity or out of fear, or out of wanting to be loved or accepted? Who are we?’ ”

The thought-provoking thriller, out Friday in theaters and on HBO Max, is set in a dystopian future where sea levels have risen so high that Miami is partly under water, and it is so hot the city became nocturnal.

Jackman’s character, Nick Bannister, is a former soldier who offers customers the chance to briefly escape the dire reality through technology that allows them to relive memories in vivid detail.

Ferguson’s Mae begins her fling with Bannister after using his memory service — and leads him down a dark path once she vanishes.

“Mae is very complex,” Ferguson, 37, explained. “She’s seeking a journey for herself, but ending up just deeper and deeper into dark, gritty Miami. She’s a lost soul trying to do good, and then we just see her through the eyes of a man called Bannister.”

The Swedish actress was intrigued by the way “Reminiscence” writer-director Lisa Joy, who co-created the HBO sci-fi series “Westworld,” incorporated climate change into Bannister’s desperate pursuit.

“The environment becomes a character of its own,” Ferguson said. “I think that’s a very interesting force to put upon characters. There will always be characteristic drama within stories that generate each other, but then if you have a natural process, and a pressure, from your environment as well, it creates more shifts in dynamics to stories, which are very much more compelling than a one-arc line.”

The movie marks the latest high-profile role for Ferguson, who portrays Ilsa Faust in the “Mission: Impossible” films, starred in 2019′s “Doctor Sleep” and is one of the leads in the upcoming “Dune” film adaptation, out Oct. 22.

She previously worked with Jackman on “The Greatest Showman,” and praised him as a co-star in “Reminiscence.”

“This was quite a challenging role due to the complexity of Mae, and I think it needed an environment that was safe for me to explore those characters,” Ferguson told The News. “He just held fort. He was there holding the structure for me as much as I hope I did for him as well.”

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