A woman from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to.
This movie made me cry, y’all.
Not in a sad or despairing way, but in a satisfying way.
I went into this movie expecting, like, a fun SciFi bop. That’s the kind of energy I expected to see from the combination of Ayo Edebiri and Mary-Louise Parker. It’s not what this movie gave me, and I’m glad.
I love a time loop movie — somehow, they are easier for my brain to digest than a multi-verse movie (aside from EEAAO, of course). If you’ve seen one, you kind of understand how they work. Unlike Groundhog Day or Palm Springs, where the time loop is 24 hours, Mary-Louise Parker’s Zoya gets to experience an entire week before taking a mysterious pill and resetting her timeline
At first, we experience her boredom and frustration at doing the same thing over and over again, week after week. Between the editing and MLP’s performance, this is artfully accomplished.
Then one day, something out of the ordinary happens, and Zoya makes the rhythm of her week’s change.
Before this, it was like the weeks were just happening to her, and after ‘the meeting’ happens she takes action in her own life again.
If you want something different to happen, you have to make it happen yourself.
I’m gonna say that again so I can hear it myself.
If you want something different to happen, you have to make it happen yourself.
Then, instead of a simple time loop movie, this turns into a beautiful sci-fi drama about trying to solve time travel itself.
The real strength in this movie is the characters, their individual performances, and, even more importantly, how well they play off each other. The chemistry between Ayo and Mary-Louise is massive and instantly apparent. They felt like real people, not characters on a screen. And the dialogue sounded real without stressing me out, which is honestly a feat.
By the end, I cared for both of these women so much.
I love science fiction movies, but I am also turned off by CGI graphics. It seems like those two things go hand in hand these days, so it’s a real treat to find a movie like this one.
It is a sci-fi movie, but the science and the fiction feel real and tangible like it could actually happen… or actually, BE happening. And that’s the best (and scariest) kind of science fiction to me.
Other movies that fall into this category:
- The One I Love
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Never Let Me Go
- 12 Monkeys
- Gattaca
- Moon
- Arrival
- Ex-Machina
- Strange Days
Can you think of any others? Tell me about ‘em, and I’ll watch them!
