Predestination (2014)

Synopsis

Among the questions I had once I got about halfway into Predestination: Is this happening in a dystopian future? Are we flitting between alternate universes? Does time travel really work that way? How did I not know about this Ethan Hawke movie before? And … what the fuck is going on?

It begins as maybe a straight-up science fiction adventure. It’s March 1975. Some guy (let’s call him Guy No. 1) is trying to stop some other guy (Guy No. 2) from setting off a bomb that will kill thousands of people in New York City. Guy No. 1 fumbles the attempt, gets horribly burned. Guy No. 2 escapes. But Guy No. 3 (where’d he come from?) helps Guy No. 1 retrieve his “time travel kit” and he escapes back to the future. Or alternate universe. I dunno.

Guy No. 1 is part of a troupe of cops who surf about in time, preventing crimes before they happen. After plastic surgery that completely alters his appearance, Guy No. 1 is retired from the time travel team and placed in an undercover role as a barkeep in 1970 New York City. In fact, that’s the character’s title: The Barkeep (our Ethan Hawke). His mission: sniff out someone called the Fizzle Bomber before he strikes in that anticipated 1975 event costing thousands of lives. There he meets a guy who calls himself John (Sarah Snook – just wait, it will make sense later). And John spins a very long and fascinating story that I don’t want to spoil.

More questions pop up like fizzling bombs. Like, is the moniker Fizzle Bomber just a joke, or is it supposed to have deeper, metaphorical meaning? How could the future go so wrong, where we have an organization called the SpaceCorp that recruits young women as sex toys to keep astronauts company during long flights? Talk about dystopian futures. Or alternate universes.

Most mind-blowing thing to be prepared for: All your preconceptions about time-travel paradoxes are going to be stomped on.

See It

Predestination is based pretty faithfully on science-fiction legend Robert A. Heinlein’s short story “‘—All You Zombies—’”, except maybe for the bit about the terrorist Fizzle Bomber. To say Predestination is a fresh and innovative slice of storytelling would be an understatement. I personally have never seen anything like it.

That’s not the only thing going for it. Ethan Hawke is perfectly fine as The Barkeep who knows only half, if that, of the story – his story, and John’s story. But it is Sarah Snook who delivers an absolutely stunning (in the actual sense of the word) performance given the roles and personas she had to assume.

The writer/directors are Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig, usually referred to as the Spierig Brothers. Their background as identical twins might well have helped them channel the feelings of their characters.

Predestination is one of those movies I liked a lot “just because.” Maybe it’s a failed piece of absolute nonsense. Maybe it’s an overlooked gem on it’s way to becoming a cult classic. All I know is that it’s based on – what was to me anyway – a fresh and intriguing premise, is anchored by an awe-inspiring performance, and navigates convoluted timelines about as well as one might expect without being walked through a three-dimensional holograph. Take a look. See what you make of it.