The opening sequence of Memento reveals a very limited amount of information about the film. It does not give much away, therefore encouraging the audience to be inquisitive and persuading them to watch the rest of the film. The opening sequence shows a developed photograph in a man's hand. The photo is of a dead body. The man then shakes the photo several times in his hand, causing the photo to become more and more undeveloped. Next, we see the photo ejecting into a camera, which is the opposite of what usually happens. Next, we see the man take the photo and then we we see a shot of blood flowing backwards. At this point, it becomes clear that the entire opening sequence is in reverse order. After, there is a close up of a bullet and then a pair of glasses, the bullet then flies into the gun in the man's hand. Then it goes to a shot of a dead person on the floor, coming back to life (reverse order) and the bullet flying back into the gun.

The music in the opening sequence is non-diegetic. it has a slow, melancholy tone to it, which connotes the idea of emotional and physical pain. This music is continuously played until it cuts away to the shot of the man in the dark setting. At this point, the music cuts out and a new sound, still non-diegetic, comes in. This sound is a lot more dark and tense, creating suspense and a mysteriously dark atmosphere.

This opening sequence has a good use of cinematography. At the beginning, a long close up showing the photograph is used, to show the content of the photo. Also, as it is there for a long time, it clearly shows the photo un-developing. Also, the editing is effective as the whole clip is shot in reverse. This is quite an untraditional way of shooting an opening sequence. The way it reveals different pieces of information at different times in the clip leaves the audience asking questions such as who actually is the main character? Who is the man that he killed? Why did he even shoot him?