A lacklustre, genre-confused film that is not worth your time
Scientific — or even common — sense is not a prerequisite for a good movie. There are plenty of good films that push the boundaries of logic and whose very premise could completely fall apart on scrutiny. However, these movies work because they have something else going for them. Whether it is a sense of humour, a compelling story, a unique narrator, or a stylish aesthetic, there is usually that one element that makes it worthwhile.
Netflix’s Time Cut does not do this. It scores quite low on the bar of stories that make sense and unfortunately, it doesn’t compensate in its other areas either. The sci-fi slasher movie follows Lucy, a teenager whose older sister Summer died in a series of killings in 2003. Lucy then accidentally travels back in time and spends the rest of the film trying to save Summer from her premature death.
There’s not a lot of logic to the sci-fi part of Time Cut. The time machine is suitably vague and simply requires an ‘antimatter’ capsule. Conveniently, Lucy’s father works at the company that made this machine. Later, when time travel becomes more relevant, the Netflix movie doesn’t bother to define its rules or how timelines and ripple effects work in this fictional universe.
Characters offer vague one-liners that do away with any hope for explanation and you are expected to just roll with the punches. All this would be fine if the rest of the movie was a solid watch but it fails there as well. Time Cut is touted as a sci-fi slasher and while it dumbs down the sci-fi, it completely ignores the slasher.
Yes, the killer is named the Sweetly Slasher and he does slash his victims. But these scenes are largely ineffective and don’t evoke any reaction nor do they strike any emotional chord. There is a lack of gore, although that hasn’t stopped other slashers from being compelling movies.
A starker issue is the lack of suspense or tense atmosphere that could have given this take on Back to The Future a unique twist. The killer hunting Summer looks creepy enough, donning a Ken-doll-like mask, but that’s where this movie’s horror element ends.
With the sci-fi-ness and the slasher elements out of the way, the film is left as a 2000s teenage drama, diving into romantic and platonic relationships. Lucy navigates a complicated relationship with her sister, develops a friendship with a physics genius named Quinn, and also reunites with a very different version of her own parents in the past.
There was potential in these complex relationships for a good, meaty story but Lucy, Summer and Quinn all remain surface-level characters. The writing tries to offer them some depth but it gets lost in the midst of the killings and the efforts to get Lucy back home. While Madison Bailey and Antonia Gentry do their best to portray the sisters, the writing is too thin to offer any support.
It’s not just that you don’t relate to the characters either, the entire film is held together by a very flimsy script. Lucy trusts Quinn all too quickly and her relationship with Summer speedruns through milestones. It’s hard to believe and even harder to relate to.
The plot takes a particularly dark turn at one point but the script happily skims over this, emotions be damned. In fact, the whole thing is so overlaid with fluffy sentimentality and clichéd dialogues that it makes me wonder if the movie was written by AI.
If there are any redeeming qualities it is the nostalgic trip back to the early ‘00s. Lucy’s arrival in 2003 is defined by visuals of low-waist jeans, belts made of metal hoops, Discmans, and flip phones. Hilary Duff and Avril Lavigne make their obligatory appearances. Summer gives Lucy a fashion overhaul in a makeover scene that is reminiscent of many a rom-com and a genuine delight.
But once again, this is nothing more than a nod to the aesthetic and halfway through the movie, these quirky reminders fade into the background. The Netflix film never engages with the idea of the past nor does it play up the aesthetic to comic effect, which could have been a lot more fun to watch.
This is in line with the movie’s flaws in general — dumbed-down sci-fi, not enough slasher, too little heart, and barely any fun. Time Cut tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing at all.
Read More: Time Cut Ending Explained
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Verdict - 4/10
4/10