Predestinación

Twisty, turny and mind-bending, one viewing won't be enough for this time travelling head scratcher. Two plots – one revolving around Ethan Hawke's temporal agent seeking to stop a terrorist, the other following the life of a precocious orphan who isn't quite like everybody else – are intricately and intelligently woven together to not only build tension but to explore provocative themes to spoiler-y to mention here. In fact, Predestination is one of those movies its hard to say much of anything about. It's such a meticulously drip-fed thriller – slowly and superbly unravelling as each and every minute of the runtime ticks on – that the real joy here is unwrapping and grasping (or attempting to any rate) what it is you're actually witnessing. In his second collaboration with Aussie filmmakers the Spierig Brothers, Hawke is in career-best form as the veteran time traveller on the brink of burning out, whilst relative newcomer Sarah Snook (born and bred South Australian) is outstanding in a complex and demanding role that has rightly grabbed the attention of Hollywood. The Spierig's also demonstrate their diversity in both the writing and directing departments, going from the enjoyable but tonally lightweight splatter-fest Daybreakers to this altogether more mature, thematically heavy and narratively elaborate sci-fi saga that still manages to maintain a high excitement level. This year's Looper or Inception.

This movie was a total mind bleep. Allow me to take you through my emotional time line of the movie.

Phase 1--Excited. Electric beginning. Action right away with some good special effects. Immediately drawn in.

Phase 2--A tad bored. Story time. Nice story but not what I came for. I came for a good time travel sci-fi not a tragic life story, however unique.

Phase 3--Layers begin to be peeled back. Start to see what's really going on. Mind starts to melt.

Phase 4--The end. The brain has exploded trying to comprehend it all.

It was a crazy series of events, an insane temporal loop, it was fantastic.

"Predestination" is an incredibly original and creative film, employing what may seem like 'common' aspects of the science-fiction genre, and putting a darker, grimmer twist on them. Time travel is handled quite well in this Australian film, focusing less on the effects of travelling back (and forth) in time than other sci-fi films. "Predestination" uses decidedly odd pacing, beginning with a 'bang' and following that up with almost an hour of subdued plot. But oddly enough, these moments of -almost- pure dialogue and occasional flashbacks never become boring, but rather deepen the film's characters and their back-stories. The cast performances are what really make this movie 'shine'. Ethan Hawke, as usual, delivers an almost flawless performance as the unnamed lead, and Sarah Snook, an Australian newcomer, surprises with her wide range of acting abilities. Overall, the third feature film by the Spierig Brothers is a surprisingly original, daring, and genre-bending film.

I have watched this movie twice the story appears complex so when I first watched I was paying attention but was also trying to work out the connections of the characters and in doing so missing small points. The story is quite unique and at first hard to understand but as you do it highlights the imagination of the writers and the complexity of how they wrote the story I loved it as I love movies that make you think and this one never stops making you think! I don't want to explain my meaning as I don't wish to spoil the story or your entertainment in figuring it out. The acting is great and I am sure you will enjoy the movie maybe your smarter than me and everything falls into place on first viewing either way it is entertaining.

I feel like sometimes great movies don't get enough recognition, films like Prisoners, Enemy, or Predestination.

This film impacted me heavily, and it kept me thinking and thinking about it for a week after I saw it. Ethan Hawke gave a great performance, which keeps me wondering why he ever agreed to do "The Purge", but the real standout is Sarah Snook, who is breathtaking in her role.

One of the best things about this film was that when I thought it was going in one direction, it took a hard right hand turn. Not many movies make me doubt myself like that. The direction was clean and solid, the cinematography was immaculate, and the special and visual effects were outstanding. Everything about the look of the film was perfect.

My only complaints are that the movie's first act was a little slow. However, as the film progresses into the second and third act, the long first act is absolutely necessary. If it was a little shorter, it would've worked so well.

Confusing? Yes. Enjoyable? Big time.

If you can see Predestination, definitely do so. 8/10