Ethan Hawke travels in time to prevent future crimes: Predestination review and trailer
THE ABSENCE of any fathomable conclusion is one of the privileges of making a science fiction film. That has to be the joy of the genre for fans who are still debating the end of Lost and Christopher Nolan’s Inception on social media.
(15, 97 mins)
Directors: Michael and Peter Spierig
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook
Soon they’ll be analysing Predestination which has the enduringly popular concept of time travel as its theme and Ethan Hawke playing a Temporal Agent who travels to prevent future killers from committing their crimes.
One – the Fizzle Bomber who is due to kill thousands – eludes him and after being burnt while in pursuit as the film starts, he is sent back to the 1970s to be a bartender and try again. At least I think that’s what happened.
Predestination Official International Trailer #1 (2014) - Ethan Hawke Sci-Fi Thriller HD
As last assignments go it’s a breeze as the agent just has to serve drinks and play pool, but this is when he strikes up a chat with a young male writer who appears under the pen name of The Unmarried Mother – and with good reason, as he was formerly a she.
Australian directors Michael and Peter Spierig have adapted a 1959 short story by sci-fi author Robert Heinlein that is really a romantic character study and those who like their time travel to be full of action and special effects will be disappointed.
This is a much more cerebral journey led by the fascinating tale of the Unmarried Mother, played most convincingly by Sarah Snook.
As Sci-fi film noir it works well, but as the initial conceit - time travelling to stop a crime – unravels and the real identity of the players becomes more confused, I was completely baffled, yet still enjoying myself which can only be good.
