A father loses his short-term memory as the result of a botched medical procedure which causes him to develop Wernicke's Encephalopathy. Koreeda chronicles his family's fight to receive proper treatment and benefits from this devastating malpractice. Without Memory is an unabashed protest against the government and its disregard for health care. However, the film is also rich with thematic concerns, namely memory and loss, which infuse his later fiction films.