Predestination (2015)
Staci Layne Wilson
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Starring Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Christopher Kirby, Noah Taylor
Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig
Predestination is the new mind-bending film by the Spierig Brothers, the Aussie filmmaking twins who gave us the genre-twisting vampire film Daybreakers in 2009 and wowed us with their first feature, Undead, back in 2003. Their latest is based on a 1959 short story by Robert A Heinlein, called “All You Zombies,” and it stars Ethan Hawke as a time-traveling Temporal Agent who uses a continuum-defying device to try to prevent heinous crimes before they have happened.
Predestination can’t help but be reminiscent of recent time-hop flicks such as Back in Crime and Looper. There are paradoxes and moral conundrums a-plenty, but somehow it winds up feeling like a character drama more than anything. Perhaps it’s the lack of showy special effects and absence of a super-compelling mystery. Those are not deficits; in fact, the somber tone of the film is what sets it apart from your typical time-travel head-trip. That and the exceptional performances from leads Hawke and Sarah Snook (who recently grabbed my attention in the New Orleans-set ghost movie Jessabelle).
The Agent (he’s never named) has spent years trying to quash a terrorist known as the Fizzle Bomber from blowing up the Big Apple but has come up empty after every trip. Now on his final mission, he has one more chance to stop the mayhem before it happens… Upon landing in the early 1970s and going undercover as a bartender in a seedy dive, he meets a thirsty young man (Snook) who was born female, but due to a series of unfortunate events that have ruined his life, he’s now in a state of frustrating limbo. There are a lot of flashbacks and flashforwards as the barfly tells his/her story, but the plot is never too difficult to keep track of.
The music is rather flat, not really bringing any zap to differentiate between the different eras. The cinematography is gritty and drab. But the set design, costumes, and locations (Melbourne for old NYC) are spot-on. Truly, this is a film that’s more about the writing, directing and acting – if you’re looking for fancy trimmings, you’ll be left in the cold.
I try to be as non-spoilerific as possible when reviewing, but I do so wish I could gripe about some of the paradoxes that don’t add up! Those kind of bothered me – about as much as the Snook character is supposed to be an “ugly outcast,” when actually she’s quite pretty and poised – but overall, I just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the ride. The Spierig Brothers are definitely getting progressively better with each flick. Having Hawke in two of them definitely helps – the accomplished actor adds gravitas to otherwise unbelievable characters.
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Film
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