If time travel ever came to be, in what form would it exist? Would it be in the form of a car? A plane? Or maybe even a violin case? (To understand these references, see Back to the Future, Time Chasers, and Predestination). Ideas of time travel and how it works are embedded in our brains from popular culture. Each time travel film comes with its own unique way of explaining and dealing with its logic, coupled with how the characters do the time traveling. Alternatively, some make it a point to steer the audience away from the logic to focus more on the story, as shown in this scene from Looper (2011).
In 2004, Shane Carruth wrote, directed and starred in what I believe to be the smartest time travel film to date: Primer. It’s the story about two friends who are working out of their garage to come up with the next big invention. They accidentally create a means for them to travel back in time, causing problems between the two and those around them. That is as simple as I can put it. He made the movie with an estimated budget of a mere $7,000. It gained some traction at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently on Netflix. This stands up there with some of the greatest time travel movies of all time. For so many reasons this movie continues to blow me away every time I watch it.
Primer did with time travel what other big blockbusters have successfully achieved. Batman Begins (2005) took a comic book character that had previously existed in a world far removed from our reality and put him in our world. Those films helped us picture what it might be like if Batman existed. From his suit to his car, it felt like that film could take place in our world. Casino Royale (2006) did the same thing with James Bond. Removing the outrageous gadgets and one liners in silly situations, it successfully grounded the character in our reality. These attempts were refreshing and successfully captured the audience in new ways. Primer removes the flashy aspect of time travel. There is no flying Delorean. Carruth uses this large “science box” for lack of a better word. The minuscule budget played a part in the way this device looks; it’s nothing pretty to look at. It looks like it was made from materials you buy at a hardware store. What really blew me away is how the time traveling works in this world. After watching this film a few times, and watching some YouTube videos to help explain it, allow me to try and explain it to you.
Essentially, you can’t just go back in time to whatever day you want in history. This is the aspect that initially captured my attention. You are only allowed to travel as far back as from the moment you turn the machine on. For example, if I woke up this morning and turned the machine on at 8:00 A.M., then the earliest I’ll be able to go back in time is 8:00 A.M. of that day. The catch is you have to stay in the box for the same amount of time that you waited to get back in it. So if I got in the box at 12:00 P.M. after turning it on at 8:00 A.M. that morning, I would have to stay in the box for 4 hours, only to get out of the box and see that it’s 8:00 A.M. again. Still with me? I hope so. It becomes increasingly difficult to travel back further and further in time. Try laying down in a small box for more than 24 hours. It wouldn’t be easy. The engineers create this machine around the time of March Madness, enabling them to see how the games play out that day so they can go back in the morning and place their bets. They also check the stock market and play that as well. Logically, it makes sense that the first thing many of us would do is play the market or make bets to get some quick cash.
This method of time travel rings more true to me than any other film I have seen. If someone were to invent time travel today, this is how I would picture it. Carruth, with a budget he could put on is credit card, successfully captured and grounded time travel in our reality. With a 77 minute runtime, you can make time to watch this movie. The way Carruth tells the story makes sense, but it is very difficult to put together in your head on first viewing. It may feel convoluted and messy until you watch it and make the effort afterwards to figure out its logic. For a first-time filmmaker, Carruth deserves high praise for what he accomplishes with this film.
