Review of Seconds (1966) by Bill B — 18 Jun 2015

Seconds is a film about a banker who goes through a procedure to erase his current existence and start life over as a younger man. The interesting aspect of this film is in the organization that performs the procedure and how it goes about its daily operations.

There's a lot of mystery involved and I like how they slowly reveal the secrets as the film goes on. However the development of the protagonist's story I found to be a bit under-written. In fact I kept feeling like I missed something because they don't properly establish what is wrong with his existing life or why he's so quick to leave it.

It came across as though he was just going to meet with the company in order to see what it was all about, but within a couple of scenes he fully signs on to end his life. Because of this rushed beginning I didn't buy in emotionally in the later scenes when he craves to go back to his former life.

I also didn't understand why it was so traumatic to him when he met other people who had gone through the procedure. It seems Seconds was trying to point to something deeper in the human psyche and I just failed to comprehend it.

For me this felt like an overlong episode of the Twilight Zone. The camera effects were remarkable, particularly some of the tracking shots that followed characters, but I just wasn't invested in those characters.

If you're interested in an odd psychological thriller that is very visually stimulating then Seconds is one you might enjoy, it just didn't work all that well for me.