What’s It About
If love is in the form of a circle, what lines would you cross to be with your soulmate? In this gripping, near-future love story directed by Oscar® winner John Ridley, Nick and Janine (Oscar® nominees Leslie Odom, Jr. and Cynthia Erivo) live in marital bliss, until Janine’s ex-husband (Orlando Bloom) warps time to try to tear them apart using Nick’s college girlfriend (Frieda Pinto). As Nick’s memories and reality disappear, he must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in order to hold onto – or let go of – everything he loves. Can love endure in a future where time is fluid, and all of life may be just an illusion?
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Depending on what you look for in a dramatic film, Needle in a Timestack will either be one of the best sci-fi love stories you’ve seen or a time-wasting piece of crap. We watch movies from a neutral standpoint, and this film gave us very conflicting thoughts regarding the story, pace, and overall emotions displayed by each character. The story takes place at a time where time travel is possible to anyone who can afford it, much like those space flights we have today. That’s not the main story, but it is an intricate part of why this movie exists. Underneath all the sci-fi stuff is a very touching love story between Nick, Janine, and a regretful friend named Tommy. The love story parts were great, but trying to blend in the time travel aspects created an unfinished feel to the movie. So many things needed to be explained before the full impact of a relationship could be felt. What are the basic rules? Does anyone remember if something changes, and if so, can that person or people change those changes? These questions exist because they happened in the film. There’s a timeshift within the first ten minutes (that’s what they call a sudden change in the timeline). Certain things go unnoticed, such as a different co-worker. At the same time, other alterations leave people feeling uneasy or unsure about their current reality. Our main couple, Nick and Janine, check their memories of each other, and while they are still together, changes have occurred. Unfortunately, Nick is the only one feeling the difference. More timeshifts arise, and the perfect couple is no more. Nick fights the change but slowly forgets why. His “new” wife dismissed his attitude until things got better. Tommy was married to Janine, but it was unclear if he knew why, although it was highly implied he was its cause. Little details like that gave the movie an inconsistency that took away from what could have been a beautiful love story. The time travel stuff was put there to see if the love between Nick and Janine would still exist no matter what. So, for most of the movie, you’re trying to piece together one story while not fully understanding the other. John Ridley may be a good director for the human experience (12 Years a Slave, Three Kings), but he knows nothing about science fiction and based on his past catalog, he cannot mix genres with any type of success.
OUR RATING – NO TIME TO UNDERSTAND 5
MEDIA
- Genre – Drama
- Street date
- Digital – October 15th, 2021
- DVD/Blu-Ray – October 19th, 2021
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH
Extras
- none