MOVIE REVIEW: Predestination

Written and Directed by The Spierig Brothers.

Starring Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook and Noah Taylor.

R, 98 minutes.

Predestination opens by committing something of a cardinal sin, with its star giving us potentially hackneyed voiceover narration. This usually lazy move is later revealed to be something completely different and, admittedly, simply brilliant. It’s the best way to sum up the film in general. At one moment, its choices are perplexing, the next deceptively thrilling.

Ethan Hawke stars as a secret agent of sorts using a time travel device to stop a deranged bomber. A mysterious man with a sordid past walks into a bar, and figures into the agent’s plan.

This is one of those movies a review just can’t do much justice to without giving away too many details. Viewers are better suited knowing next to nothing going in, so forgive me the indulgence of including a basic plot outline above. What I do feel comfortable spoiling is just how much of a pleasant surprise this movie is, representing another smart, character-driven, philosophically-tinged science fiction film, the kind en vogue forty years ago. A movie confident enough in pacing, writing, and the talent of its lead performers, we forgive the leisurely first half and early fears that the story can’t possibly tie up all loose ends in a satisfying manner. Similar to how the film vindicates itself of its voiceover narration (as far as my personal bias is concerned), it takes several rapid-fire turns, some you may have seen coming, others you couldn’t possibly predict.

The film doesn’t solely rely on narrative gimmicks to entertain its audience, thankfully, as much of its success can be attributed to its two lead performances. Both Ethan Hawke’s Temporal Agent and the mysterious bar patron are asked to do a lot and deliver tremendously nuanced performances.

As far as time travel movies go, one could do far worse than give Predestination a watch. Its lasting impact remains to be seen, not providing the heady delights of something like Primer and not quite reaching the crowd-pleasing heights of the early Terminator films, yet it’s a welcome sight all the same. A thought-provoking and surprisingly fun piece of filmmaking, it’s great to see relatively “smaller” films still tackling some of the big ideas.

 If you enjoyed N. Demmy’s piece, you can find his latest work right HERE and his earlier articles and reviews over HERE.

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