Predestination = Mind, Blown: TADFF Review

Predestination (2014) dir. The Spierig Brothers

There are a handful of things that I prefer not to think about too much, lest my brain explode from trying to really, really comprehend. For instance: the internet, Gwyneth Paltrow, how to verbally describe a colour, and time travel. Time travel makes me nervous because sometimes it’s all fun like Michael J Fox being responsible for Chuck Berry discovering rock music but other times it’s all scary like Ashton Kutcher stabbing his hand with something and that’s all I remember from The Butterfly Effect.

Luckily for everyone (even you, Gwyneth Paltrow) Predestination has got to be one of the best movies about time travel I’ve ever seen. (And I’ve seen at least two but probably more.) It somehow blends together a captivating, fast-paced time-travel mission with a very poignant observation of identity, destiny, and who we are and where we come from. There’s even an explosion. And at least two jokes. Whoa, whoa, I know. Deep breaths. How can one movie have so much awesome? Answer: The Spierig Brothers are magic.

I always do my time travel based on best possible wardrobe choices too.

Predestination opens with a sense of urgency: our main character (Ethan Hawke, appropriately dressed for time travel in a trench coat and hat, with face obscured) appears to be hunting someone. As the puzzle pieces drop we learn that Hawke’s character, a Temporal Agent, has been chasing a bomber through time trying to stop a horrific tragedy from occurring. He ends up with a bomb in the face (um, literally) and requires plastic surgery. As the bandages come off, the doctor tells him he’ll heal but never look the same again. And the character looks in the mirror and… it’s Ethan Hawke! (If I ever had to get reconstructive surgery I hope “the best the doctors can do” is an Ethan Hawke.)

The agent, all healed up, is determined to catch this bomber. It’s his last mission and he’s not going to fail. He travels back to the 70s, rocking that suede vest like you know he can, and assumes his cover as a bartender. And: a guy walks into the bar… That’s really where the entire story begins. The man and the bartender find themselves mutually intrigued by one another and start to swap stories and “what came first” jokes. Classic. The man bets the bartender that he can tell him the best story he’s ever heard. He starts off with, “When I was a little girl…” And that’s when the story gets even more interesting because we forget the time travel for a moment and focus on the man’s story about when he was a young orphaned girl who never really felt like she belonged.

Shower this woman with awards, please.

I absolutely refuse to say any more than that because I think Predestination is best enjoyed as much a surprise as possible. But, yes, it gets even twistier–without ever seeming absurd or outrageous–and equally poignant. Time travel stories always bring up the idea of fate and destiny and Predestination is no exception; rather, The Spierig Brothers took that concept and upped the mind-fuckery by at least a million; and I loved every second of it. Time travel stories also either succeed or fail to explain the “science” behind their version of time travel. I’m a believer of “less is more” and in Predestination there was just enough science to explain what was happening. We know Ethan Hawke is a Temporal Agent (oo, fancy), that the government has been using time travel to fix things from the past (figures), and the time traveling happens with a device that looks like a violin case. Except it’s full of time travel science instead of an instrument. There are dials and it does stuff. Science!

I don’t think this movie would have been anywhere near as amazing as it was without its stars. Ethan Hawke is somehow getting better and better with age and Sarah Snook (who plays both the man in the present day and his younger, female self) is mesmerizing. Like, I’m talking award-worthy mesmerizing. Combine those performances with the striking, slick cinematography and brilliant, subtle-yet-not production design and you’ve got a real treat for the eyes. You know, if staring at Ethan Hawke wasn’t doing it for you.

So, what are your thoughts on time travel?

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