Film review: Predestination (2014)

 

In case you thought they didn't make B movies any more, this is a pure B-movie.  Like the best B-movies, it is all about the plot, which, as it is based on one of the greatest science fiction short-stories ever (Robert Heinlein's "...All You Zombies...") has everything a good B-movie can ask for.  It also has two very solid leads: Ethan Hawke, the sole American in an all-Aussie production (although they're all doing American accents), and a pre-Succession Sarah Snook, who spends a lot of her time playing a man.  

Both do a lot to elevate material that, if played poorly, could easily come across as ridiculous.  The only complaint I have is that they bulked it out with a sub-plot (about a terrorist called "the Fizzle Bomber") that violates the original perfect time-travel logic (no less an expert than the great philosopher David Lewis credited the original story as one of the few that got time-travel right) with some stupid Back to the Future-style "change the future" bullshit.  However, the movie charges by at such a breakneck pace that you can't really complain.  They even kept the setting of the story, which predicted that time-travel would be invented in the early 80s, so it's one of those rare period-piece science fiction films, with a time machine that looks like a vintage violin case.  (I do have one complaint: there appear to be green filters on everything, so I don't like the color.)  Also, although in retrospect you realize that it could have been (and probably was) made for a pittance (they probably spent the vast bulk of the money on Hawkes's salary), you never think that as it's going on, a sign of an engaging plot.  Anyway, if you know the story, you know the plot, and if you don't know the story I'm not going to spoil it for you. Just pay attention to every detail, because there are a lot of payoffs.