Time travel films are rarely this intelligent. This one is borderline brilliant, and the fact that it was made for only $7,000, by a first time filmmaker (Shane Carruth who also wrote, shot, scored, edited, produced, and starred in the film) and took home the Grand Jury prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival goes to prove that sharp, thought-out films can still be recognized by American audiences.

There are going to be two different fans of this film—those who watch it fervently, trying to unravel the unbelievably complicated plot, and those who sit back and take in the narrative on a simple point A to point B fashion, seeing the chaos that ensues as a sort of sci-fi meditation on existential malaise. I started out in the first camp but later succumbed to the mind-fuck, and with my brain in a pretzel and a notepad full of frenzied timelines, ended up comfortably settled into the latter category. Granted, I believe that Carruth has the whole thing figured out for himself, but like the characters in the film, has left himself a fail-safe in the form of the Thomas Granger character, who has the potential—depending on how you may look at it—to render any possible explanation useless with the fact that the film never fully explores the implications that his off-screen activities might hold on the overall scheme of things.

Carruth has a subtle yet austere visual style that never succumbs to the restrictions of his limited budget, with his cramped, claustrophobic mise-en-scene perfectly suiting the rapid-fire narrative. At only 78 minutes, this might seem like filmmaking at it’s most efficient, but believe me; this little box Carruth has invented is bursting with big ideas.

Adam Lemke

DVD Release Date: February 20, 2006
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