Timecrimes

A smart, occasionally thrilling science fiction tale, Timecrimes follows an ordinary man (Karra Elejalde’s Hector) as he finds himself face-to-face with two separate versions of himself after inadvertently stepping into a low-rent time machine. Filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo has infused the proceedings with an unapologetically hard-edged sensibility that’s ultimately reminiscent of Shane Carruth’s similarly-themed 2004 effort Primer, although there’s little doubt that Timecrimes fares a whole lot better than its intriguing yet hopelessly impenetrable predecessor – as Vigalondo generally does a nice job of ensuring that the movie remains easy enough to follow for the duration of its appropriately brisk running time. It’s just as clear, however, that Vigalondo’s labyrinthine screenplay demands a great deal of attention from the viewer, with the suspension-of-disbelief factor almost egregiously high during the film’s opening 45 minutes – as Hector 1 behaves in a manner that initially seems just a little too calculated for comfort. Hector’s actions are inevitably explained away by his desire to maintain a consistent timeline (which, if interrupted, would essentially negate his entire existence), and it consequently becomes awfully difficult not to sympathize with the character’s ongoing efforts at repairing the damage from his unwitting escapades through time. The end result is a mind-bending endeavor that would surely benefit from repeat viewings, as it does seem as though the kinks within the story would naturally smooth themselves out once the big picture has been revealed.

*** out of ****