Primer

It was cool how realistically Primer handled the concept of time travel, and how the film deliberately avoided dumbing down any of its technical aspects. Although the approach didn't always help contribute to the cinematic and storytelling qualities of the movie, the experience was very fresh. I'll begin by describing the more realistic elements of the movie that separated it from most science fiction films I have seen. The people who discover time traveling actually behave like people who might discover time traveling. By trade, they're really intelligent when it comes to logic and science, and the decisions and planning they make throughout the movie reflect that (their sense of morals and ethics is a different matter). Another element that adds to the realism is the limitations set on time traveling. Since only the objects inside the machine experience time travel, you can only travel back to when the machine was turned on. You're also limited by the supply of oxygen you can bring with you, so the movie sets the time travel window to around 6 hours. The movie also obscures many of the layers of time travel that occur in it, to put the viewers in a similar state of confusion as the main characters. While this addition was certainly an interesting experiment, I think that it ultimately caused me to lose any connection with the characters' thoughts or motivations. After reading some explanations of the plot online (it's nearly impossible to fully understand the plot structure upon first viewing) and watching the film again, the themes of control and greed become more apparent and you can start to see the statement the director was attempting to make. However, the mental model required to reach this understanding does take a substantial amount of time to comprehend, and loses some of the initial punch of the movie in the process.