Highlights
- "In Time" is a mind-bending sci-fi film that explores a world where time is currency and society is divided into time zones.
- The film's strengths lie in its thought-provoking concepts and visually stunning cinematography by Roger Deakins.
- While some aspects are lacking, the film's audacious political statements and memorable performances make it a worthwhile watch.
"Remember that time is money." It appears that New Zealand filmmaker Andrew Niccol, the writer/director/producer of 2011 sci-fi neo-noir In Time, takes this Benjamin Franklin quote literally. The premise of his largely forgotten film is one that tests the mind. What would a world with time as currency look like? How would the socioeconomic classes be separated? Who are the ones that manage the people's time? Niccol tackles these questions and many others in this ambitious studio film whose flaws are outweighed by its strengths.
Niccol has been working in esoteric sci-fi since his debut film in 1997's Gattaca, a dystopian tale about a biopunk society driven by eugenics where children are provided with the best hereditary traits of their parents via genetic selection (a seed of the premise for In Time). The next year, he wrote the psychological dramedy The Truman Show, perhaps his most gamous work. After his underwhelming 2002 sci-fi satire Simone, Niccol took a break from sci-fi for almost a decade, until he came out with this mind-bending story.
5 Narratively Brilliant Sci-Fi Inventions
Plenty of sci-fi technology blatantly exists to move the story forward. However, that doesn't mean such inventions can't add brilliance to the tale.
What is In Time about?
The year is 2169 and humanity has been genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. At that point, a person only has one year left to live unless they can get more time, whether it be by working, gambling, or the like. A glowing green clock is embedded in everyone's forearms, and they can exchange time with others by locking arms and interfacing. When the clock hits zero, the person times out and dies. Given the frailty of the currency, society has been separated into time zones. The poor live in Dayton, a ghetto where people have less time on their clocks than a full day. In Dayton, some die on the streets in broad daylight.
Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a factory worker living in Dayton with his mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde) as they struggle to keep up with their bills. One night after work, Will meets a man named Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) who comes from New Greenwich, where the upper class lives in immortality by hoarding time and raising prices for the working class. Henry has over a century on his clock, and is drunkenly paying everyone's bar tabs until he is approached by a gang of Minutemen. These Minutemen are led by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer), a time thief who preys on the weak. After Will rescues him, Henry transfers all of his time to Henry and dies in front of an outdoor security camera, making Will a prime suspect in Henry's death.
What is the Climax of In Time?
Immediately on Will's tail is Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), a futuristic police officer called a Timekeeper, who once worked with Will's father. To avoid suspicion, Will migrates to New Greenwich. He ends up at a high-stakes poker game where he meets Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), a major banker who controls the time companies and is responsible for a personal wrongdoing against Will's family. He also meets Philippe's daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), who is trapped under her father's intensive security measures as the rich are constantly surrounded by bodyguards.
During a socialite party at Philippe's estate, Raymond arrests Will for murder, confiscating all but two of his hours. Before the Timekeepers can book him, Will kidnaps Sylvia and escapes back to Dayton, where they work to take down the system with a plot that can only be described as Bonnie and Clyde meets Robin Hood in the 22nd century.
What Are the Strengths of In Time?
In Time takes complex, thought-provoking material and wraps it with attractive leads (Hollywood would love it if actors stopped aging at 25) and crowd-pleasing action sequences. The former is consistently intriguing, while the latter is considerably less so. To make up for the lackluster action, prolific cinematographer Roger Deakins (a frequent collaborator with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes) is responsible for shooting and lighting the industrial and upscale streets of Los Angeles to perfection.
Deakins, along with costume designer Colleen Atwood (a four-time Academy Award winner) and production designer Alex McDowell, crafts a world that feels grounded in reality despite its unwieldy nature. Also elevating the more generic aspects of the story are the performances. Timberlake's screen presence is always strong even in a role that does not require much from a narrative perspective.
The technical aspects do most of the heavy lifting in the film. The satire unfortunately does not have the legs it should, given the compelling ideas. Still, it is rare to see a studio film that is so audacious with its political statements, particularly when they are this unabashedly leftist. Make no mistake: the satire is not subtext; rather, it is the literal text. Characters criticize the system for being designed to keep the poor in squalor, and that the only reason the rich have their fortune is that they stole it from the average citizen. This alone makes In Time a highly memorable venture that works more often than it does not.