Alistair1918

This is one of those shaky camera movies. With stilted dialog and not well-thought-out plots. You cannot have "time travel" without a whole (wormhole). But this is too many holes in the plot and the execution.

Someone might think "how can he adapt to technology so quickly?" This is explained in the movie. A cell phone is just a combination of phone and radio which both exist in 1918, etc.

Others may ask why not ask questions of that time to help verify his story? Try asking a teenager where Belize is.

Alistair (Guy Birtwhistle) gets blown out of 1918 France to today (2016) in the U. S. He immediately becomes a homeless bum and counts the days accurately for filmmakers that cannot hold the camera still.

All he wants to do is worm his way home. All the filmmakers want to mess with his life and film it. Can the two wants coincide?

Can you stand to watch this slow-moving movie to the end to see if there is any twist or turn? I doubt it.

I didn't click the 'spoiler' button because if you've read the story description on the main page--you know the story.

This is a tough movie to review. Upfront and foremost I applaud the creative team behind this film. It's built on the frame of a unique story with no star power attached. I can only imagine the hurdles you had to leap and the obstacles you needed to circumvent to to get the film made. But now it's made and being shown on cable for millions to see. Congratulations to everyone involved, and kudos to the director and lead actress--Annie McKay. It appears this is a freshman effort in the director chair by McKay, and it doesn't look like she had a bundle of money in her budget, but she seems to have squeezed every penny out of the cash she had to work with.

McVey's directing style is brisk and light, and if I'm remembering correctly the camera always seems to be moving, flitting here and there, trading staged set pieces for footage of actors doing real things, unaware they're being filmed,acting like real people. These roaming shots pick up tons of characterization and flavor.

Kudos again (this time the chocolate chip ones with oatmeal and cinnamon) to the director for playing a major part in the film. She steps up to the job and delivers an honest and true performance. The same has to be said about her appearance. If I may be allowed to objectify, Annie McCay may never appear on the covers of French fashion magazines, but her natural beauty and crooked smile make her far more attractive and far more appropriate to this role.

If you twisted my arm and demanded I identify my least likable aspect of the film, I would be forced to point a finger at actor and screenwriter, Guy Birthwhistle. I know he's spent plenty of time in front of the camera in supporting roles, but it's my opinion he dropped the ball once too often in Alistair1918.

It was explained once to us exactly how long Birthwhistle had been Fast Forwarded the present time. I think it was either 30 of 5 days. Even if it turned out to be six months, I doubt if his shock of the changed world would still be affecting him. In the past 20 years alone we've had more scientific advancements than in the previous 1000, so his lack of awe didn't ring true at all. By all indications we witness his first trip in an automobile, but he handles it like he has two Buicks and a couple of Chevys back home. The knife gets twisted each time we see him using a cell phone, searching on the internet, and sending email.

Birthwhistle also seems to be unsure about the path of his character. Perhaps it was in the script of his direction, but during the middle of the film we keep getting looks from him like he's an actor and all the events up to this point have been filmed for a reality show, or that he really is a time traveler but instead of getting zapped from the middle of a battlefield it was from a laboratory in Nazi Germany. If the budget had allowed for it I would have loved to see Alistair scribbling in his notebook, sketching his long lost wife, or just trying to figure how his life is going to get together. In the same vein, we should have seen McVey bumping around in her apartment, wondering what she's doing. Maybe she could talk to someone on the telephone for some fresh perspective.

I've read a couple of reviews that were filled with questions about ending the film where it ended. I think it's a terrific ending, but some people just can't deal not having things spelled out for them in exact detail.

I greatly look forward to seeing future films from Annie McVay. I think she has amazing potential. Once again, great work, everyone.

I liked this film.It had a down to Earth and realistic feel to it, along with some fine acting.An interesting story that had me absorbed and immersed in it from the start.What more does one want from a film. The characters were everyday folk whose actions and motivations felt natural and real.I think that this is what held me from the movie's start.The accent of the Yorkshire soldier was real and true.All in all, a well spent hour and a half.On the film-makers budget, not large I presume, this work was worth every cent spent on it.One can only imagine how this story with these actors and crew would have shone even more brightly had more financial backing been available to them. To sum up: well above average acting, clever and sensitive writing, and shot superbly.A little gem, indeed.

If you were in a Hollywood movie and you stumbled across a man that said that he'd time-travelled from 1918, I bet you'd help him and there would be amazing special effects. If the same scenario happened to you in real life, I wonder if you'd be more likely to run away and perhaps report him to local services of some sort?

I found this film quite extraordinary, but something about it intrigued me enough to watch it all the way through.

I initially felt that it was obviously very low budget (which it clearly is). Then I felt that the acting was nothing special, until it struck me that the acting was incredibly natural. It all just seemed very real to me which makes a change because in these types of found footage/hand-cam movies I'm used to clichés. There were no corny lines that I noticed.

The reason that I've put in my subject title that you have to use your imagination is because there are parts in the film where I thought "that doesn't explain something", or "you just wouldn't do that, would you?". That is where I had to make allowances. It's confusing in parts. I felt emphasis with the female lead who wasn't sure if she believed the soldier, but she wanted to. - And then her male partner/husband who was very cynical. (That also confused me because at one point, unless I misunderstood, she's gay?).

The script was written beautifully and with realism, the lead actor (and writer) I felt was very handsome. It even picked up on the fact that because of what had happened to him and the fact that he'd been in his uniform for a while, that his body might smell a bit. Little touches to the movie like that are often not noticed or generally not even mentioned.

I suspect that most people won't like this movie. Personally I thought it was very good. Not superb, but very good. 8/10 from me and I'm going to see what else I can find from at least the 2 lead actors in this movie. Particularly the male.

A wonderful little film...superbly acted, well scripted...makes one want to believe in time travel. Nothing too ambitious, just a small tale very well told...a soldier is launched forward in time, and desperately wishes to get home to a wife he is certain is waiting for him. Although some characters doubt his sanity and veracity, watching this one wants to believe him...all in all a lovely bit of cinema, and one of the few documentary style movies that actually delivers...bravo all...