Does Natalie sleep with Leonard in Memento?

Question

In Memento, Natalie and Leonard pass the night together in Natalie's house after Leonard has killed her boyfriend, Jimmy. Natalie is undressing Leonard, uncovering his tattoos and touching his body. In the next shot, we see the two of them together in one bed, Natalie sleeping with her head on Leonard's chest. Leonard is monologuing about his deceased wife. When they part, Natalie gives him a kiss on his lips, stating "I think you will remember me".

In many of the comments that I found, this led people to believe that the two slept with each other during that night. Still, I don't think they did. I see especially Leonard emotionally too much involved with his former wife to engage in it. He meets with a hooker once - without sleeping with her - just to see if he can forget about his wife (he can't). For Natalie there's also no reason (besides a sudden attraction for the killer of her boyfriend). Her goal is to manipulate him, but as Lenny would have forgotten about sleeping with her by morning, it would be a pointless thing to do in this aspect. Also she's wearing the same clothes she did the day before.

I think that Christopher Nolan didn't show how they came to lay together in bed to keep people guessing about it. At least at one point in the movie, he maybe wanted viewers to really not know what happened (being fully in Leonard's position) - so no revelation. Still I think that it doesn't make sense that the two slept together, but I can't be entirely sure. Any indications to support or contradict my impression are welcome.

Answer 1

I don't believe Leonard slept with Natalie. I think it was part of her plan to manipulate him. Throughout the film Nolan drops us into scenes very late and we the audience are as confused as Leonard as to what events led to that moment.

Leonard has (in his mind) just lost his wife and wants revenge. Natalie has just lost her boyfriend and believes Leonard is responsible or connected.

Throughout the film everyone is manipulation Leonard through his disability.

Answer 2

My recollection of the movie is a bit foggy, but from what i remember the scene is played out of context in the beginning of the movie, leading you to believe that there indeed had been some kind of romance involved between the two.

Of course leonard does not remember this, but it is his habit to fake confidence either to others or to himself. In this case, he acts as if he trusts her, because the situation suggests that he trusted her before he went to sleep.

Later in the movie you will see what happened before the wake-up scene. As a matter of fact they had a violent fight and he knew that she could not be trusted. At that time - if i recall correctly - he loses consciousness and she - aware of his condition - plays her cards right to manipulate him into trusting her again.

The scene makes it very clear in what dilemma leonard is constantly in. He has to adapt to each scene without knowing what has happened (chronologically) before the movie. So like the viewer, he believes that they slept together.

edit: actually the scene that i was remembered didnt involve the wake-up. Yet it shows how manipulative natalie is and that there is a good chance that she will work that trick again.

At first she requests leonard to kill a drug dealer without any fear of revealing her real motives, since she knows he will forget anything after a short while anyway. After he rejects her request/demand because he does not kill people for money, she changes her strategy, sits the amnesia out in her car and then comes back to manipulate him into killing the same guy out of revenge.

Since your scene plays out after the kill, she most likely has her next hit on her agenda and is setting him up again. Or she just wanted to bask in her manipulation success.

when they first meet, he explains his condition to natalie. So she is fully aware of everything from the start:

Answer 3

I actually don't believe at that point in the movie that Natalie was already trying to manipulate him. And I don't think she knew yet that he had killed her boyfriend.

From my perspective while watching the movie, it was clear that they had slept together. They were two attractive people who met and were attracted to each other. It was nothing more than that. Sure, Leonard was still in love with his wife, but it's not uncommon for someone in a long term relationship to cheat and sleep with someone else even though they're be in love with their partner.

However, there is really no way to know. I hadn't even thought of the possibility that they hadn't slept together until I saw your question, and I think it's a really interesting concept the director might have been playing with, putting the audience into Leonard's perspective and not outright revealing everything.