In Time

Like all good science fiction, In Time creates a plausible future world for us to imagine. In this case, the world is separated into different zones by the class of its inhabitants, dictated by the amount of time/currency they have to spend. Time can be bought with labour, sold, or freely given, and is denoted on each person’s forearm with a countdown timer, which literally shows you how much you have to spend…and how long you have to live. Cops, called Time Keepers, enforce the social stratification where the time ‘rich’ have potential immortality, and the ‘poor’ literally live each day as if it were their last. The narrative follows ghetto dweller Will Salas (Timberlake), who attempts to overthrow the system in place. In the process, he gets hitched with Sylvia Weis (Seyfried), the In Time universe`s equivalent of a billionaire heiress.
In an era where movies tend towards the irreverent, the facetious and the ironic, Andrew Niccol’s latest work provides us with a film that is sincere, cerebral and viscerally stimulating. With the recent development of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the increasing global angst against predatory capitalism, Andrew Niccol’s film not only entertains, but foregrounds the problem of real world resource inequality with its poetic reframing of the situation.
In terms of execution, Niccol has crafted a world that is completely plausible, with an attention to detail that encompasses even the way the different classes comport themselves. The act of running, apparently, is oh-so-crude and hoi polloi. Timberlake chips in with a more than satisfactory performance, and Murphy puts on a riveting show as the morally ambiguous Time Keeper Raymond Leon. Seyfried adds onscreen sizzle and empathetic performance, and shares a Bonnie and Clyde-esque chemistry with her onscreen counterpart.
That’s not to say, however, that In Time will be everyone’s cuppa. Action movie buffs expecting to watch a sci-fi heist in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven are likely to find the film too draggy. The action sequences, while well shot, don’t do anything revolutionary in terms of choreography, and range from the solid to the somewhat sedate.

In Time, while not a masterpiece, comes close to some of Niccol’s best works, and exhibits the best of his strengths as a director: taut execution, an immaculately conceived world and, most importantly, a deep understanding of real social anxieties.

SUMMARY: Somehow manages to masterfully straddle bank heist scenes, deep character development, social commentary and sci-fi world creation… we wonder where Niccol found the time.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Raphael Lim