Review of Time Lapse (2014) by Jesse O — 27 Sep 2015

This is a pretty good movie that, honestly, in my opinion, doesn't take full advantage of its concept as possible. Or perhaps maybe it does and the only thing that's a problem is the fact that it pretty much plays out in exactly the same way you would expect.

The only thing that really feels that's truly this film's, and not something borrowed, is the fact of why does the machine only take photos at nighttime when it, prior to these three finding it, took photos of both day and nighttime.

Honestly, while the film does bring some interesting questions and themes, it's borrowed from other sources with the similar time travelling aspects. Not that this is a time travelling movie, but it does feature a machine that takes photos 24 hours into the future.

But it's the same principles. What would you do with it? Would you use it for personal gain? Would you tell anybody? Would the machine change you? It's all been seen before and part of me thinks that the film lacks its own unique identity because of it.

It just feels like a bunch of different things ideas and concepts I've seen before. Don't get me wrong, though, I liked the film. I think the film does a good job at centering the film around the leads and not necessarily around the whole concept itself, though it is a give and take, obviously.

I just don't think the whole romance triangle as the real main narrative arc of the film is something that's that compelling. It's not like they beat you over the head with it, but it is an important part of what's driving the characters, more so than even being able to make money by giving themselves the results of tomorrow's races so they're able to bet on them and get a guaranteed win.

I did like the certain manipulation going on there in order for a certain character to get something they wished for but, outside of that, a lot of it boils down to the romance triangle between Jasper, Finn and Callie and it's just not anything that's that intriguing to focus a movie with such an interesting concept on.

But that's just me. The performances are good, however and the writing, while telling a story and using a concept and themes that have been done before, is still more than solid and I was legitimately interested in seeing where the film would end up, particularly the inconsistencies between the photo not taking anymore photos during the daytime and only doing taking them at 8 pm.

Not a perfect movie, by any means, but one that offers a good and slightly interesting sci-fi flick. I'd recommend it as a Netflix watch only.