Time Lapse - A Movie Review

Let’s see what our future is for tomorrow night. Maybe we’ll be rich.

Time Lapse time traveled into theaters in 2014. Discovering a polaroid camera that shows your future twenty-four hours into the future, a trio of friends believe they are rich. It’s only a matter of time until they realize that they are in danger based on disturbing images.

Time travel movies always find new ways to indulge in a new story. For a low-budget film, Time Lapse is impressive. Confusing in some of its layers, Time Lapse constructs that you should never mess with time.

Danielle Panabaker, Matt O’Leary, and George Finn established a real friendship. Their interactions are the highlights of Time Lapse. Discovering this invention puts their friendship to the test. I like what they did with scenes, making sure that they weren’t just saying lines, and continue doing something.

I like how the cast studied their personalities. The change in their dynamic felt realistic. Using something that tells your future is a lesson that you should never mess with time. Each character has a desire. Jasper, in particular, wants to stick out to the world. Becoming so obsessed with what the future holds, they forget about living their lives.

Due to low budgeting, Time Lapse had minimal casting. It worked. Unfortunately, most of John Rhys-Davies’ scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Rhys-Davies plays an important character, but then again, he is supposed to be mysterious.

Other credits include Amin Joseph, Jason Spisak, David Figlioli, and a crowd of partygoers in one scene. Everyone fits their characters. And there’s no exposition, which I like. You don’t have to know every detail. I could tell that the characters thought up their own backstories. I felt like I knew them.

You can do anything with time travel. Time Lapse is a creative story. I like how writers decided on a polaroid camera. A lot of work went into the development of all the pictures. Along with the paintings. As an art lover, all the paintings were creative, capturing the tone of the scene.

This film really keeps you guessing about what’s going to happen next. I couldn’t wait to see what each picture had in store for the characters. Great attention was directed to background moments. Pay close attention to the background.

I was impressed with the way Bradley King distributed the film. King had cool camera angles. He delved into his own creative angle of time travel. He also did a nice job with the pacing. The story is written realistically as the events go from bad to worse. The best of his direction went to the actors. The dialogue was written well, delivering impressive monologues.

Time Lapse invests in a clever storyline. With only a few special effects, this small budget film has all that it needs. Characters, a story, and well-written twists. Though, the story gets a little confusing by the end in the disarray of the chaos. Although it was a creative twist, it could have been sorted out better.

Never mess with time. It leads to complicated situations. Just because you have the ability to do anything with time travel does not mean that it will do you any good. Enjoy what is going on in the present. It’s better to see for your own selves what your future holds instead of being fed images.

Time travel fans are going to enjoy Time Lapse. It had me hooked from start to finish. Now, I have put it on the list of my favorite films. Give it a watch and enjoy it.