Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

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.

Or is it go forward and do as you are told? It's kind of tricky ... it also is quite clever to say the least. That does not mean that there are no inconsistencies at all. Quite the opposite ... but having said that, if you buy into the whole idea and suspend your disbelief - you're in for quite the treat.

And if you have some love for independent cinema and movies ... well I don't have to tell you how you'll feel about it! Stay through the credits to see behind the scenes footage of how they shot certain scenes. A fun ride that takes its ... time - no pun intended. And even when you see a scene a second time - it never gets boring. The fun stays with you - a testament to the filmmakers, the idea/script and the actors, who really are transcend the fun they had shooting this (of course they were also tired as we can see in the behind the scenes footage too) ... original, quirky and just plain lovely.

Don't let the rating fool you, this is not a hidden gem, BUT it is decent no-budget film making with a fairly unique concept, and with a better script, could have ecome a cult classic.

Solid concept, okay execution, fun characters, but repetitive and ruined by an ending that blows apart continuity. This movie should have had a much different ending, it had it's problems for sure, like why do the monitors have such long cords? How convenient! But that's not really a plot hole. Also, if you know anything about time travel theories, even from the beginning, this one has huge problems, but they could have been remedied with a solid ending, instead the ending literally makes it worse and throws it's own internal logic out the window. Up until the last 10 minutes I could buy into the premise, but wow, did it just become incredibly stupid in the last 10 minutes, and not in a good way.

Still, if you are used to Japanese or Korean cinema, this is pretty typical fair acting-wise for a comedy, ultra goofy. I liked the characters, I thought that they were fun, and well-developed for an ensemble movie based on a high concept. It definitely plays the concept for laughs, but it actually gets pretty serious at some points, it has some deeper themes about destiny and predetermination, but again, it generally chucks those out the window by the end. It really does become a somewhat disappointing mess by the end, I still enjoyed it, but its sad because it could have been a hell of a lot better. I think for the most part they did a good job with a pretty tricky concept, other than the last 10 minutes. I would love to see this remade with a better script and a much different ending, this could be great, but instead, it is just barely above average.

'Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes (2020)' is an incredibly impressive low-budget science-fiction film about a group of friends who discover that a television and a computer monitor are linked via some sort of temporal anomaly. The monitor displays what the TV will see in two minutes, while the TV displays what the monitor has already seen two minutes ago. The film is, in essence, an examination of the age-old question: what came first, the chicken or the egg? The characters see what they're going to do, yet arguably only do it because they know they must. To them, the future has already happened; they seem to exist on a predestined timeline. The feature often follows its characters as they travel between the TV and the monitor, too. Because of this, the future becomes the past which becomes the present which becomes the past again. As you can see, the central concept is an extremely clever and heady one, and it gets even more complex as the piece progresses (in ways which I won't spoil here). Thankfully, the flick never trips over itself and also remains relatively easy to parse for its entire duration. It's intelligent, but not pretentious. It's all in good fun, too, and only carries the slightest hint of thematic potency. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that it plays out in what appears to be a single seamless take. Judging by the behind-the-scenes footage that plays during the credits (which also reveals that large portions of the picture were shot using a mobile phone), it appears the picture makes use of hidden cuts to achieve this. Nevertheless, it's still really spectacular and certainly must've taken a lot of planning to pull off. The piece is pretty much a choreographed dance in which the players have to interact with pre-recorded versions of themselves, recreating and reacting to the footage that plays out on the two screens that comprise the central temporal link. It's as enjoyable as it is admirable. The flick moves at a solid pace and doesn't feel as though it either outstays its welcome or artificially pads its length. It's entertaining pretty much from the first frame to the last. Despite all of its genuine brilliance, though, the thing is only ever so engaging or enjoyable. That's not to imply that it isn't engaging or enjoyable at all, rather that it only ever reaches a certain level of engagement or enjoyment. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't quite push past the promise of its solid opening movement or go above and beyond when it comes to how compelling it is. It's an odd complaint, I'll admit, and I'm not even sure if I'm conveying it correctly. Basically, I'm now trying to justify my entirely subjective and arguably redundant review score. The movie is technically triumphant, narratively complex and generally entertaining, but it only moves me to the point I feel as though I can rate it 7/10.

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.