Could this be a sign of cognitive decline?

Do you notice other things that he’s forgetful about?

I would find it concerning.

Is it possible he slept through parts of it when you were watching, and that’s why he doesn’t remember? Recently I was talking to a friend about the movie “Nomadland” and I mentioned a scene that she didn’t remember. She said when she watched it, she fell asleep toward the end. She went back and watched the end again, and saw the scene I was talking about.

I have to strain to remember what I ate yesterday, so I think it is normal.

It could be but by itself its not conclusive.

My dad is stressed out and tired all the time from work, so that could be a factor. And he did sleep through segments of the movie too

Maybe the movie is just bad and very forgettable.

Most of the people I know are suffering from a bit of Pandemic Brain. Stress, distraction, dramatic changes in routine, all due to a horrific global event, the likes of which none of us have seen before; these all contribute to memory lapses and skips in logic.

No, I wouldn’t worry at all about this.

It could be what you suggest, but you need more than one data point to draw a line. Maybe he just wanted to see it again and didn’t feel like explaining that, for reasons of his own.

I’ve rented movies I’ve seen before and even bought the same books more than once. One time I actually bought a necklace exactly like one I already had, and a scarf another time. What was clear was that I was consistently attracted to the same things, and also that having them didn’t seem to have made much of an impression or satisfied whatever it was meant to satisfy. One could take a life lesson from that.

I would just watch and wait. It’s not likely to be cognitive decline but if you see more slippage, I would discuss it with someone.

No, not really. Some movies just aren’t very memorable.

I’d be worried except you said he slept through much of it the first time. I have a very good memory, but if I’m tired and watching TV, I tend to fade into dream land. It can be hard to remember things from when one was unconscious or semi-conscious. Stress can be distracting too.

Since he remembers certain scenes and was asleep for some or possibly all of the others, I wouldn’t be worried. I can see myself and several people I know doing this, and all are under 45 and healthy.

As a data point, it is insignificant. I can tell you as someone that is your dad’s age that the memory sometimes misses things. You could have watched the movie with him a while back and he could have forgotten it or that you watched it with him. Now…if you watched it with him last night and he forgot (and wasn’t drinking at the time), you might have a worry. My wife, as long as I have known her (more than 20 years), has always forgotten movies. She can watch a movie that we watched together a few months before, and it is almost a brand new movie to her. But her mind is sharp as a tack.

Generally, people who sleep through movies have limited recall.

It’s a subconscious cognitive decline that is not indicative of incipient geriatric decrepitude.

Yes, it’s normal. A certain amount of decline is going to start happening, as I understand it. I watch movies and can’t remember the titles. People ask if I’ve seen xxxxxx and I don’t know unless they start telling me the story. I have a couple of friends the same way so I feel like I’m not off the rails. That is really the thing I most notice in myself. My husband has been putting his keys in the same place for many years. Sometimes I’ll catch him looking for them. I bought a cute sign that says Keys with a downward pointing arrow underneath. I put it in a little frame and hung on the wall above the hall table where he always placed his keys.