Predestination, written and directed by brother duo Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig is a film that expertly lays out a story filled with mind warping time travel and is one that keeps you guessing right up until the very end. With such a complicated plot however there is the egregiously overburdening problem of exposition that can sometimes make the film a bit of a slog to keep up with but with some great performances and a satisfyingly well done story, Predestination is a film that delivers.
Predestination is the story of a time traveling temporal agent who on one of his last missions must try to finally stop the mass murderer who has evaded him for too long. Boasting a story filled with gender swapping, unforeseen twists and turns and a well-constructed time travelling element, Predestination certainly has a lot to offer.
The story in Predestination is superb; there is no other way to really put it the film just simply delivers on telling a fascinatingly well thought out and structured story. What I liked about the way in which the directors approached the telling of the story is that they ease you into it over a suitable amount of time, while the film does have the heavy amounts of exposition that’d you would expect from one like this (an issue I’ll touch upon in a moment) it does still give time to the other elements in the film, the characters to be exact.
Predestination takes an unexpected but appreciated amount of its 1 hour and 38 minute running time and devotes it to setting up its characters. What I was expecting to be a quick little set up scene turned into a well fleshed out back story, one that is definitely integral to the whole flow of the film.
Now one thing that I’ll say is that it will be extremely difficult to give my feelings on the overall arc of the characters and how they play into the story without spoiling huge points in this film so I’m going to have to tread carefully around certain points so as to not do that.
So with that being said the characters in Predestination are just as interesting as its story. The film is helmed by two actors primarily, Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Training Day) who plays the Barkeep and Sarah Snook who plays the Unmarried Mother. Mr Hawke delivers a solid performance, nothing particularly noteworthy but still enjoyable to watch in the film. His character evolves in such a way that to say anything would spoil it a way but it is one that becomes more and more interesting as the film progresses and there is no doubt that your interest will be continually peaked.
As for Sarah Snook, she is brilliant in the film. The actress has a lot to do in this film and certainly does not have an easy task when it comes to portraying her character but she does a great job of it. Some aspects of her character may take getting use to for some people but once you begin to settle into the idea behind her character it is really enjoyable to watch.
Where Predestination gets bogged down, is in its handling of the unfortunate but necessary exposition. The film does not beat around the bush at all with it and more or less from the offset will be beating you over the head with it. The lack of subtlety with the world building and laying of the ground work does make for some tedious moments but getting past them does mean getting to delve deeper into the rich characters and continuously intriguing story, so there has to be a willingness to accept that fact I guess.
It’s really hard to say too much more about Predestination. This is a film that is best seen by going in blind, to say too much or to even have a small morsel of it spoiled would certainly ruin the revelatory moments that the film slowly offers up.
I’m just going to simply recommend Predestination to you; this is a film that you should absolutely see. It will keep you guessing and will have you thinking long after its ended how all the pieces fit together, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this film.
The Ramblings of a Scotsman 