Primer (2004)

Primer (2004) – Two friends stumble into a practical form of time travel.  It doesn’t take long before the complexities of their discovery begin to affect their lives.

Directed by Shane Carruth                                             Starring Shane Carruth, David Sullivan

If your idea of a great science fiction movie requires lots of special effects or alien monsters or space battles, “Primer” will be a disappointment.  I think there is a single special effect in the entire movie.  No aliens or explosions either.  What it delivers is a challenging, thoughtful story and a unique movie experience.

Having said that I also have to note that it’s a challenging movie to watch.  Carruth (who wrote, directed, produced and starred in this movie) chooses to shoot the movie in a way so that you experience everything in the same way as the characters.  Which means you have to function without always knowing what is going on.  The confusion caused by functioning in more than one timeline creates a storyline that you have to watch carefully.  The closest experience I can think of would be “Memento” (although the storytelling techniques are very different).  Consequently, this is a movie that has many detractors.  Hollywood rarely challenges the viewer like “Primer” does.  I admit I wouldn’t want to watch this kind of storytelling all the time.  But it’s a wonderful experience and a worthy attempt.

The movie was made on a $7,000 budget, almost all of which went to purchasing film stock.  he cast are family and friends of the director.  So it’s a pleasant surprise that most performances are very good and naturalistic.  Since the production only had a limited amount of film, only a few takes were done of each scene.  It gives the movie both an unpolished and a very natural feel.

Why You Will Like It – Something different and interesting in a science fiction film.

Rating – **** Recommended.