Predestination

Synopsis: It's 1981 and the ability to time-travel has been mastered. Temporal Agents are recruited to travel back in time to prevent crimes that have been committed. One such agent (Ethan Hawke, unnamed, so I will refer to him as Hawke) is sent to stop a terrorist bomber who has killed 10,000 people in New York in 1975. Working undercover as a barman, Hawke meets a young effeminate-looking man, John (Sarah Snook), who promises to tell him a story the likes of which Hawke has never heard. This story is tragic and convoluted but the revelation of the possible interconnections between all the characters is ultimately mind-boggling.

Although many time travel films are characterized by their conceptual complexity, Predestination left my head reeling. On top of that it is technically a superb piece of film-making and features across-the-board dazzling performances, with Snook, a relative newcomer, giving a jaw-droppingly fine performance, playing both a man and a woman, and handling every nuance with exactitude and credibility. Ethan Hawke, well-known for choosing intelligent roles, is also brilliant, as is Noah Taylor as Mr Robertson, another member of the Temporal Agent service. These three are at the film’s heart and carry forward the gripping plot, but at the same time enable the viewer to feel complete emotional involvement with the plights of Hawke and John.

I don’t want to discuss plot points in any detail, but suffice to say there are more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at. One of the metaphors referred to in the film is of a snake eating its own tail, and it is this self-consuming circularity of events and themes that does one’s head in (in the best, thought-provoking manner). Spanning time from 1945, when a baby is dropped at an orphanage doorstep, to 1993, the overall effect is of a wild roller-coaster of eras as we travel between them, never quite knowing who is actually who, and in what ways they are connected with each other. When the “truth” is revealed we are left pondering the possibility that all things, people and time zones are connected, and that each individual, by acknowledging and accepting all aspects of their character, male and female, good and evil, can come closer to realizing the great unity. And, given the title, we are also asked to question whether some things truly are preordained or can we choose and avoid our “fate”.

There is much to celebrate with this film. The plotting of the narrative adapted by the Spierig brothers from a short story by Robert A. Heinlein, “All You Zombies”, should be a model for aspiring script writers. The stylish action sequences are swift but believable, with the sets and costume design being top-notch (everything was shot in 32 days at Docklands Studios in Melbourne). The broody sepia look of a bar, the crisp modernistic feel of an astronaut training facility, the jaunty beehive-adorned women of the 1960s: every setting and outfit bespeaks authenticity. The cinematography by DOP Ben Knott is impressive and the makeup used to transform Snook is brilliant.

Whilst the film goes into brain-shattering time travel convolutions barely comprehensible near its conclusion, for me it is near flawless and certainly the most memorable time travel film I’ve ever seen.

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