Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  an extremely indepth technical tackling of the concept of time travel. I may have to watch it again just to understand everything. it was not dumbed down for the masses for sure. A very solid hard sci fi movie.

• Matthew S

  
  It's hard to fault a time travel movie for being disjointed and confusing. The structure and dialogue reveals that is the intention early on - the characters hardly speak directly about anything. It seemed that they are co-conspirators in the director's intention to keep us… More
  It's hard to fault a time travel movie for being disjointed and confusing. The structure and dialogue reveals that is the intention early on - the characters hardly speak directly about anything. It seemed that they are co-conspirators in the director's intention to keep us one step behind the whole time, so they talk in unnecessary, cryptic, round-a-bout language. There is pleasure found when we do catch up to each little riddle, which is why the end disappoints. The storytelling rapidly accelerates into a confounding resolution that leaves us hopelessly in the dust.

• Anthony L

  
  I'm not sure I have ever been so impressed by a film as I have with Primer. Firstly, the story is brilliant, a highly original concept of a genres that has been done to death - no mean feat! Not only that, it looks good, is acted so well you could be forgiven for thinking it was… More
  I'm not sure I have ever been so impressed by a film as I have with Primer. Firstly, the story is brilliant, a highly original concept of a genres that has been done to death - no mean feat! Not only that, it looks good, is acted so well you could be forgiven for thinking it was a fly on the wall documentary and, and it's a big and, it was made for a measly $7000. Time travel is a subject well covered in cinema, when it's good it's good and when it's bad it's awful but never has it been so believable as it is in Primer. It's sad that this isn't more critically acclaimed, I think that's sadly down to the fact that so many films are dumbed down that audiences now need everything to be spelled out to them otherwise they're not interested. When anyone tells me to 'just switch off your brain and enjoy' I make a point of doing quite the opposite. I can't fault Primer, as a film fan and a want to be film maker I'm utterly impressed.

• Universal D

  
  The difficulty with time travel, sci-fi writers often hypothesize, is the dilemma posed should one happen to meet oneself ... an impossibility on one hand or world shattering should it ever occur (but its impossible), but also one possibility the cash needy flickers never tire of… More
  The difficulty with time travel, sci-fi writers often hypothesize, is the dilemma posed should one happen to meet oneself ... an impossibility on one hand or world shattering should it ever occur (but its impossible), but also one possibility the cash needy flickers never tire of playing around with. Herein the result is debilitatingly psychological, but boringly presented as the writer, busy dealing with spatial conundrums, forgot to solicit interest in his characters.

• paul o

  
  If you know what this film means, you are one of the two, a liar or a genius! My mind got blown and blown again with the film's abstract concepts. Deserves more fame but to those who discovery this gem, enjoy the unknown.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"What happens if it actually works?"</i> Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.… More
  <i>"What happens if it actually works?"</i> Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> A very intriguing story, taking a fresh and original look at the concept of time travel. The premise is brilliant, albeit facilitated by a load of technobabble. The multiple timelines of the story are very interesting, if a bit difficult to figure out. I actually had to go through a complex timeline to at least wrap my head around the story, and I suspect I'll have to watch the movie once more to put it all together. The production quality is quite low, as expected with a mere $7,000 budget, but it doesn't really detract from the movie. In fact, it makes it more believable - a proper budget would have just meant focus on special effects instead of story. Quite complex, but definitely worth watching. I would have liked to see the filmmakers go into more depth about the dangers of time travel. The bleeding ears and shaking hands are only two of the effects; it would have been interesting to see what some long-term effects were. In fact, what this movie sorely needed was another 20-30 minutes of screen time. More of an introduction at the beginning - the pacing is really off at the start, and the movie doesn't start going for a while. More filling in of the complex storyline, so it's at least possible to figure it out on the first go. And more of a build-up to the climax, so that it's a more dramatic ending. These are all flaws of a rookie filmmaker, who has written a great screenplay but made a merely good movie.

• Idrees K

  
  What it lacks in story, it makes up for by blowing your mind...over and over again.

• Greg S

  
  Two engineer/entrepreneurs accidentally discover a box that allows time travel, and quickly get themselves into trouble. Extremely confusing, but that's the point: when the two begin casually screwing with causality, both we and they lose track of what's going on and which… More
  Two engineer/entrepreneurs accidentally discover a box that allows time travel, and quickly get themselves into trouble. Extremely confusing, but that's the point: when the two begin casually screwing with causality, both we and they lose track of what's going on and which timeline we're actually in. If ratings were adjusted for budget, this would get a 5/5---it was made for an incredible $7,000!

• Carlos M

  
  Produced on a minimal budget of $7,000, this mind-blowing sci-fi mystery is extremely complex and intelligent, and it is amazing how you get more details each time you watch it and try to fit the pieces of this fascinating puzzle. A brilliant film for those who like to be challenged.

• Ginny  

  
  One heck of an addictive puzzling snobbish movie. Snobbsh in a way that it doesnt care to dumb down its script or story to the level of the masses. If this was a human being it would have the attitude of "You either get it or you dont."

• Daniel J D

  
  A move that, for better or worse, takes time travel seriously. For better or worse, that's really all it does--everything else is pretty average. Basically, this movie is directly proportional to your interest in the idea of time travel as serious.

• Dan S

  
  A constantly challenging sci-fi journey into the ever present theme of time-travel. Instead of leaving reality at the door, this film induces a fair share into it, as well as it's almost overbearing use of technical jargon to make the dialogue almost incomprehensible at times.… More
  A constantly challenging sci-fi journey into the ever present theme of time-travel. Instead of leaving reality at the door, this film induces a fair share into it, as well as it's almost overbearing use of technical jargon to make the dialogue almost incomprehensible at times. Where it succeeds is in the interest department, it is never uninteresting, although much of the time confusing. What I liked most about this movie is how the characters reacted, and how unique a lot of it was.

• Aaron N

  
  Abe: Aaron, I can imagine no way in which this thing could be considered anywhere remotely close to safe. All I know is I spent six hours in there and I'm still alive... You still want to do it? How do you logically explain time travel? Many movies have had fun with the concept… More
  Abe: Aaron, I can imagine no way in which this thing could be considered anywhere remotely close to safe. All I know is I spent six hours in there and I'm still alive... You still want to do it? How do you logically explain time travel? Many movies have had fun with the concept of time travel, but this film does a damn fine job of making you think that every base has been covered. However, it was made by a mathematician, who wants to make sure that all the dialog is extremely technical, which doesn't make for the most entertaining feature. Made for $7000, instead of venturing south of the border for some guitar case gun play Rodriguez style, writer/producer/editor/director/star Shane Carruth has made a heavily complex film focused on two guys who accidentally discover time travel. After heavily going over the details of all this, which eventually spells out that they can only travel back in time, the two plan to cheat the stock market. Eventually they venture out further to work out how to alter their lives, which drives them to paranoia and questions about their friendship. For an extremely low budgeted film, it certainly shows that a lot of care was put into its making. Shots are carefully planned out and its scored well (also handled by Carruth). However, staying engaged in this film is not easy. Its very into itself explaining everything without at any point lowering its bar so just anyone can understand it. It is interesting but damn if you really want to be involved to enjoy it. Aaron: What's worse, thinking you're being paranoid or knowing you should be?

• Stella D

  
  my head hurts

• Luke B

  
  A time travel movie that doesn't dumb down it's subject matter. Due to the dedicated thought put into time travel here, it doesn't create much in the way of characters or a plot. This is a very detailed movie, from time-travel side effects to planning out how to reenact… More
  A time travel movie that doesn't dumb down it's subject matter. Due to the dedicated thought put into time travel here, it doesn't create much in the way of characters or a plot. This is a very detailed movie, from time-travel side effects to planning out how to reenact a day if needs be. There's some great stuff here, the men trying to manipulate time to their own devices causes a lot of fascinating conflict between them. It's also rather dull and at times it's budget lets it down. But with a budget of $7,000 that's to be expected. Great ideas and a promising debut that requires multiple viewings.

• Jason S

  
  As soon as I figure out what was going on at the end of this movie I figure I will bump up the score. I recommend this one for folks who are into time travel and movies that really make you think.

• _kelly .

  
  an interesting, low-action very intellectual science fiction independent film. The filmmakers cleverly use audio and pull off some beautiful montages. The acting is raw - these are techs speaking to other techs which can be overwhelming. This film is more than anything, a recognizably… More
  an interesting, low-action very intellectual science fiction independent film. The filmmakers cleverly use audio and pull off some beautiful montages. The acting is raw - these are techs speaking to other techs which can be overwhelming. This film is more than anything, a recognizably *different and unique* piece of art.

• Drew S

  
  A completely enthralling, intelligent sci-fi mystery. It seems bizarre that a movie like this would even be made or distributed, with its lack of star power, dizzying plot, and 7000 dollar budget - but by some small miracle Primer forced its way into the science fiction arena and… More
  A completely enthralling, intelligent sci-fi mystery. It seems bizarre that a movie like this would even be made or distributed, with its lack of star power, dizzying plot, and 7000 dollar budget - but by some small miracle Primer forced its way into the science fiction arena and proved itself an incredible contender. Shane Carruth is the man responsible for nearly everything in this movie. He composed the music, acted the main role, edited, casted, wrote, directed...you name it, he probably did it. With that level of authorial control, he obviously had a lot of creative control over his final product, and the end result doesn't have a single part out of place. I would be lying if I said that I completely understood the plot. I think I can safely say that half of it made sense to me. The great part about Primer, though, is that it's involving enough to warrant multiple viewings. Even if you do lack the profound knowledge of spatial physics that the plot seems to demand of you, the premise is still an interesting one. That obtuse narrative might be frustrating to some, though, and that is Primer's main fault. It seems awful to penalize a movie for not explaining itself well, and the budget might not have loaned itself to such treatment, but Primer's a tough nut to crack.

• Adam M

  
  an art movie for engineers; it's shot and edited perfectly and although I can't understand what happened, it creates a tone

• Gordon A

  
  Ingeniously plotted mind bender.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings