Review of Primer (2004) by Scott M — 27 Oct 2011

A confident debut from a filmmaker with enormous talent. Carruth here demonstrates that ideas are the real currency of filmmaking, and with a clear enough vision you can accomplish exactly what you want on screen.

I can only imagine how many drafts of the screenplay there were as Carruth thought it out in his head just what was going on with his characters, but the result feels very well thought out and it is clear that the product on screen was not left up to chance, but that the filmmaker is as sure of his film's story as his main character.

Although I find it a little unfair that Carruth almost intentionally decides to leave his audience behind in the final act of the film in certain ways, the chaos of the plot's finale fits perfectly in keeping with the themes he is exploring with the film.

On top of all these story accomplishments, the film is also very well directed, and the acting is probably better than any other film I've seen that was made for such a small amount of money. I'm not ready to say I loved Primer, but I am definitely ready to see what Shane Carruth does next.