Director: Peter & Michael Spierig
Actors: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor

Time-travel with a twist. Based on a 13-page 1959 short story by Robert Heinlein known as ‘the mother of all time travel paradoxes’, this movie is neither about the special effects nor about the science of time travel, it is about people.

Ever since Gattaca, I always give Ethan Hawke movies a go, and he does ok here, but Sarah Snook is the better actor in this film in my opinion.It does feel like a 13-page story being stretched into a full movie at times (the start is a bit slow), but once you get the story it flows very naturally. There are a number of twists, most of which you see coming as the story unfolds, but that doesn’t detract from the story at all: that is the story.

It is a fairly small Australian movie, currently on limited release in Europe (that means: look for it in the arthouse cinemas, not the megaplexes), and will be released in the US in January.

This movie is definitely best seen without any knowledge of the plot. Don’t even read the plot summaries or reviews on IMDB (7.5) or Rotten Tomatoes (82%) as they are full of spoilers. So I am also not attaching a trailer to this post!

It is not a fantastic movie, but well worth a watch for something different from the mainstream superhero fare that seems to dominate the box office these days.

1. Does it have a hook? Yes.
2. Is it entertaining? Yes.
3. Should you watch it? Yes, especially if you like ‘strange stories’ like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits.

My score: 7/10