Julien Neaves, Sci Fi Head Writer
I had heard about 2014 Sci Fi action thriller Predestination (2014) for a few years now and the buzz surrounding it has always been positive. Directed by the Spierig brothers (Daybreakers, Jigsaw) and based on Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 short story ‘—All You Zombies—’, it follows a time agent played by Ethan Hawke who is hunting for a mysterious bomber. To go into any more plot details would be to spoil this twisty time travel time, so I will be keeping things as broad as possible with my review.
I will reveal that while Hawke is ostensibly the film’s star, the Training Day and Gattaca actor is not the main focus of the film. So, anyone going in to get their Hawke fill may come out disappointed. The focus here is on Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actress Sarah Snook (Succession, Run Rabbit Run), whose character name I cannot even reveal because that is also a spoiler (this is definitely a movie that you want to go into completely blind). Snook is phenomenal here and her performance alone makes the film worth watching.
I must also point out that the plot is heavy on the slow burn and extremely light on the action. Anyone interested in time travel fisticuffs would be better served by 1994’s Timecop. That said, the payoff for the slow burn is very much worth it and the pace picks up very quickly in the final act. Predestination’s time travel physics are simple but effective. And the plot twists are so, well, twisty, that the story will be rattling around in your head long after the credits have rolled.
It’s not the greatest time travel film ever made nor the cleverest and it does require a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief, but it is an intriguing movie that is worth at least a couple of viewings to truly appreciate it.
Editor Jules’ Score: 8 out of 10
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Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “13 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.