Disc Reviews

Predestination Review

6th Apr 2015

It’s rather unfortunate that Predestination shares its title with a term that Science Fiction aficionados will immediately recognise as an excuse to hunt for a specific variety of plot twist the second the movie starts! I was certainly among the guilty party but despite almost sabotaging my experience of this movie with my own annoying internal guess work Predestination still delivered a truly memorable mind-bender.

Yes, we’re talking about a time travel paradox – more specifically a ‘closed loop’ or ‘causality loop’ in which an event in the past is the cause an event in the future, but the event of the future is also the cause of that same event in past through the use of time travel. We’ve seen it tackled many times in movies, television shows, books; even video games, all with varying degrees of success/quality. But as a storytelling device I find it is most effective when it remains focused on, and relevant to the characters or the specific details that are principle to its existence. This is mainly so that I can revel, post watching/reading/playing, exclusively in the headfuckery of such a concept without additional Sci-Fi distractions such as killer cyborgs from the future, spaceships and photon torpedoes or even the damn machine that facilitated the paradox in the first place! Exposition can play a rather important role in narrative and a Science Fiction story will often go to the nth degree with setting the scene of some future world or techno-babble about, for example, how a time machine works. Sometimes this serves the story – or at the very least suits it – and sometimes it does not. Nevertheless, one of the most interesting facets that can be explored in a time travel story is the human ramifications of meddling with history, particularly if it’s your own history.

With that in mind I am happy to report that Predestination is an absolute banger of a time paradox story that should probably be considered, as of now, the definitive example of this sub-genre of Science Fiction as it wholeheartedly adheres to this principle; remaining not so much about specific times or events, or how time travel works pseudo-scientifically, but the people involved; the characters who inhabit these times and the effect that these events have on them through a frankly astonishing and provocative set of circumstances. Of course, the various times that the events of Predestination takes place in are mentioned and are important – don’t get me wrong, and yes there is a brief explanation of the set of unique ‘rules’ that govern the time travel mechanism in this particular story, certainly enough for me and I’m a total geek for that stuff.

Predestination is set in four distinct decades; 1940s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s with the latter being the point at which time travel is technologically possible and from which our protagonist, played by Ethan Hawke originates. Hawke’s character, known simply as ‘Temporal Agent’, is assigned to go back in time to gather evidence pertaining to a mass murderer known as ‘The Fizzle Bomber’ so they can prevent him from killing lots of people in the present – that’s right, you think you’re watching Timecop (1994). But this is what’s so wonderful about the opening of Predestination. You’re given the distinct impression that, not only, tonight’s entertainment will be ‘a certain type of movie’ complete with a neo-noir setting (think Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998)) and a brooding action hero, but also that this will be the main focus of the story, and you would be forgiven in these assumptions because I predict that film makers Michael and Peter Spierig completely intended their audience to be thrown off the scent right from the get-go.

Likely, your presumptions about the film intellectually and stylistically will dramatically change as the story develops and new details are revealed, none of which are to be dismissed. Predestination is incredibly self-contained with visual cues, background scene information and seemingly irrelevant narrative all working together to reaffirm established plot details or to disclose information that will later be understood by the viewer. It’s a beautiful marriage of simplicity and complexity that is rarely seen outside of a good novel. The performances are top notch and crucial to the success of the believability of the story at large which can be confidently described as ‘impossible’. Both Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook are absolutely superb, each managing to navigate the challenges and demands of their roles with the finesse and sensitivity required, particularly with certain themes that are explored within. However, Snook steals the show for me as her story in particular traverses a minefield of almost unbelievable emotional stress that I feel many actors would struggle to convey with the conviction and emotional gravitas depicted in this performance.

The only minor gripe that I have is the film’s ‘big reveal’ which by the time happens is almost unnecessary as enough pieces of the puzzle have been revealed to put it all together yourself. A rather annoying montage does the audience’s intelligence a slight disservice by walking right up to your face and screaming “you know what you think is going on yeah? Yeah! You’re absolutely right! That thing that you totally suspected about 30 minutes ago and was revealed to you pretty much conclusively 5 minutes ago IS ACTUALLY THE CASE!!! Yay for YOU!!!” My frustration with this scene was further compounded by the fact that a certain other scene that I would love to have seen depicting an earlier event from a different perspective (just watch the film, stop making me nearly throw spoilers in dammit!) never actually happened, at least on camera.

Predestination is an awesome movie and a brilliant example of a quality time travel Science Fiction story. It’s more accessible than Shane Carruth’s equally impressive Primer (2004) and more focused and intelligent than Twelve Monkeys (1995) which is one of my most favourite movies of all time. It is a pity that the Spierig brothers decided to go down the ‘explain everything’ route at the end as for me it cheapened the experience somewhat and leaves me wondering if they threw in that extra ‘did you get it yeah?’ moment out of a lack of confidence in their audiences’ comprehension of the story. However it’s a small price to pay for such a great film. Definitely one for the collection!