Beyond the infinite two minutes

A wonderfully clever almost Spike Jonze-esque indie film shot on a minuscule budget but with an overabundance of ideas.

A part time musician and cafe owner discovers that his tv is a window to 2 minutes into the future and he starts communicating back and forth between his past, present and future selves, his friends get involved and eventually multiple layers of story start playing parallel simultaneously in different parts of the future, present and past (it's complicated). All this is done with virtually no cuts. There may have been a few hidden ones here and there but even then the amount of planning and mental gymnastics to make this movie work at all, let alone as close to flawless as it is, is a testament to the ingenuity of the entire crew, both in front and behind the camera. I can't emphasize enough how cleverly this was made. When the movie starts and you get the premise you may think (I certainly did) "ok. This is cool but I could probably do that too with a few rehearsals" but then it gets so thoroughly complex and layered I laughed out several times in admiration.

Apart from the behind-the-scenes wizardry the movie never gets bogged down in high concept nonsense, instead it uses its clever SF premise to tell a small, fun and relateable story about this group of friends who happen upon a time-travelling tv.

Beyond the infinite two minutes was pure cinematic joy, I'm glad I got to check it out at this year's Nippon Connection and I'll order the bluray as soon as it becomes available.

Japanese low budget cinema at its best! Normally, low budget American films are absolute trash with few exceptions, but Japanese ones are invariably charming and imaginative and this one's no exception. It's a quirky time travel comedy set in a cafe, where an unusual link to the future spells disaster. Extremely lovable characters, a natural humour throughout and an anything-goes feel make this a thoroughly entertaining little movie.

The actual concept is very complicated but the way they tell the story is amazing. I really got entertained. I had no difficulty to follow the concept. Actors and actresses are good too. You need to watch this to understand the droste effect and entertain meantime.

A strange tale of time travel that doesn't try to be serious or explain the implausible science others usually do. The comedy is really well done and the story very character driven. It reminds me much of Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers, which is another strange comedy from Japan. I like how here we are clueless along with the characters so we explore the situation along with them. While there is much that doesn't work or is just wrong from a "realism" standpoint but its not meant to be real. Just enjoy being swept along with the situation, finding answers and not finding answers as whatever happens just happens. Its just plain fun so sit back and enjoy the lack of stereotypical characters and events, maybe with a drink of hot chocolate.

Endearing, fast-paced, and very short Japanese movie about a man who discovers a TV in his cafe that shows images from two minutes in the future. How or why? Doesn't matter. Just go with it.

Some of his friends soon discover it and begin playing around with it, devising ways to look further into the future by pointing the screen that shows the future and the screen that shows that past at each other. Confusing but very fun and low-key time travel shenanigans ensue.

It's made to look like one shot but you can usually tell when they cut. Still, most shots appear to last at least three minutes, and some as long as five or more, so there still would have been an admirable amount of brainpower and coordination required to pull off some of these sequences, especially because multiple screens are involved.

It's the kind of movie that you realise you just need to go with the flow with, and once you do, it becomes a lot of fun. The low budget and restricted setting (it takes place in a cafe and a couple of small apartments on the floors above) don't impact how enjoyable and engaging it is for its short but sweet runtime.

It's hard to complain too much about some of the rough technical aspects (and to be fair, I didn't even realise they shot it on a phone while I was watching), and the acting is good for this kind of movie, but nothing amazing. Still, it's more than worth watching for the premise and creativity found within, and for being a unique and even inspirationally low budget movie with a very high concept.

Easy to recommend, and sure, I know the year is very young, but it's my favourite film I've watched in 2022 so far.