Tub time: Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain in ‘Memory’.

MEMORY * (100 minutes) MA
The emerging cliche of the “trauma dump” gets more fuel in this dreary drama about an unlikely couple. Jessica Chastain plays Sylvia, a social worker still in recovery from alcoholism after 13 years as well as dealing with childhood memories of an abusive father. After attending a lukewarm high school reunion she is followed home by a confused, bearded man, played by Peter Sarsgaard. He has dementia; she says he sexually abused her on a regular basis at school, only her memory turns out to be more faulty than his. Chastain gets to emote heavily as she recalls her various ordeals, but writer/director Michel Franco can’t generate much tension amidst all the bickering in an emotionally constipated dirge that is slow and increasingly dull. The only theme of any interest is how truthful Sylvia’s recollections actually are, but that promptly peters out.

CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT * (107 minutes) M
Tepid, poorly directed domestic comedy scramble in which a large family gathers to celebrate Christmas, kicking off a bunch of story threads that end up going nowhere. As the raucous teens leave the house in a car, adults discuss how best to care for their aging mother. Director Tyler Taormina gets some nice story notes going in the opening reel but soon succumbs to a grand lack of focus that renders the whole affair as tiresome as most family Christmas gatherings – to repeat a very common reaction.