When it comes to movies about time travel, it can be difficult to keep the rules of the magic system straight, yetAbout Time, the often-overlooked2013 romance film,handles this issue perfectly. Starring Rachel McAdams and Domnhall Gleeson,About Timetells the story of Tim, a young man who discovers that the men in his family can travel into the past. Hoping to use his new ability to improve his life, Tim uses time travel to get a girlfriend, Mary. Yet, Tim quickly learns that not even this magic can save him from the inevitabilities of life.
Time travel is a fairly popular trope in movies and TV. Manynotable time travel moviesallow characters to visit places that they never could have before, yet the ability almost inevitably causes a multitude of logic and story issues. For example, characters try to change history and end up affecting the rest of the timeline. Another issue is characters meeting themselves in the past or future, which leads to identity crises and multiverses, as well as plot holes for audiences to ponder. Miraculously,About Timeavoids all of thisthanks to one simple rule.
About Time’s Time Travel Only Involved The Mind, Not The Body
How About Time’s Time Travel Works
The main difference betweenAbout Timeand other time travel projects is the fact thatTim travels through time in his mind, not his body.Typically, a time traveler will physically move from the present day to the past or future. They are basically copied and pasted from one segment of the timeline to another.About Timedoesn’t work that way. Tim’s body remains rooted in its proper time, but his mind is what’s being copied and pasted. Thus, he gets to embody himself in various points of his past rather than physically moving through time.
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Although this may seem like a subtle difference, it allowsAbout Timeto avoid common time travel problems. Tim never has to worry about running into himself in the past, nor does he appear in timelines that he doesn’t belong in. He can only travel through his own lived past. This may seem like a huge creative restriction, but it actually keepsAbout Timefrom being overcomplicated. Plus,Tim still uses his time travel in interesting ways, including meeting Mary at various different points in time so that their love story can move forward without external obstacles.
About Time Not Actually Sending Tim To The Past Avoided So Many Problems
What Makes Time Travel Tropes So Exhausting
Ultimately,About Time’stime travel system helped make the movie better. Tim’s time travel definitely creates problems within the movie, but it isn’t necessarily the main source of conflict. The big force that Tim must fight against is actually life itself. He tries to use his time travel to prevent real-life issues from occurring, but he quickly learns that life will happen no matter what he does. People will make mistakes, miss opportunities, and even die, regardless of how hard Tim tries to fight against it. This is a more compelling story than one focused on the problems time travel creates.
…About Timeflips the script in a way that makes time travel interesting again.
About Timeactually shines a light onhow exhausting time travel movies can be. Because time travel is such a popular device in stories, audiences can often see exactly how a situation will play out. Rather than becoming invested in what the character is doing, they are predicting what will happen later in the story, and for the most part, the movie does play out in that exact way. Time travel has become less exciting the more it is used. However,About Timeflips the script in a way that makes time travel interesting again.
About Time Is A Textbook Example Of How To Make Time Travel Work
Why There Needs To Be More Movies Like About Time
All in all,About Timeis a perfect example of hownon-sci-fi time travel moviesshould be handled today. Instead of creating a complex and confusing time travel system or falling into the same old tropes, movies should have time travel be secondary to the main story. It should add to the story, but not be the main issue at hand.About Timeis about time travel, but really, it is about enjoying every bit of your lifeand accepting when bad things happen. More movies should take a page out ofAbout Time’sbook.
Domnhall Gleeson has appeared in a number of sci-fi and time-related projects aside fromAbout Time, includingBlack Mirror, Ex-Machina,andNever Let Me Go.
A common complaint around time travel-centric movies is their incoherent story. Major franchises, likeTerminator, have found themselves overwhelmed with plot inconsistencies and logical holes, all caused by their central time travel device. However, if these movies were to build their systems in less complicated ways and focus on the human elements of the story, then audiences might be more forgiving.About Timeis a prime example of how, where time travel is concerned, less can be more.
About Time
Cast
When Tim Lake learns that he, like all the men in his family, has the ability to travel back in time, he decides to use this ability to help him find love and improve his and his loved ones' lives.
