Predestination : What came first – the chicken or the egg?

My one-liner: What the f***?

The Spierig brothers (if like me you don’t recognize them yet, then after this movie you will) are German born Australian film makers. Their second feature with Ethan Hawke is a mind-bender of sorts that not only poses questions about time travel but also about the whole concept of being, at any one point of time, one entity and nothing else. Continuity is shown as a spun loop in a clever and satisfyingly open ended manner with relatively new entrant Sarah Snook playing a tough role with ease thus making Hawkes’ role seem almost like a foil. Watching it in the cinema would mean there is a strong possibility of returning to watch it again, however if one were watching it in the comfort of home, rewinding a few scenes is going to be inevitable.

Ethan Hawke is not unknown for his adventurous choice of movies, be it the horror thriller ‘Sinister’ or the Spierig brothers’ previous venture ‘Daybreakers’, the two time Academy Award nominee brings a grounded rootedness that make it seem like to have cast anyone else in the role would have been a folly. In choosing to star in the feature version of ‘All you zombies’ by Robert.A.Heinlein, Hawke once again shows his keen sense of picking out winners.  More of a revelation is aussie newcomer Sarah Snook who stars alongside Hawke and by the end of the movie corrects the notion to Hawke starring alongside her. Her innate sense of confidence and mature acting serves to only highlight her natural resemblance to Jodie Foster(does not take away anything from Sarah Snook) and her performance sort of lingers even after you finish watching her last shot in the movie.

The story loops around different decades but the brothers Spierig establish the ground rules very effectively within the first 25 minutes or so. And having those rules established makes viewing the movie and understanding the basic storyline that much easier for attentive viewers. The attention to detail is impressive, reflecting different eras like the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s etc in an easy and believable way without overcomplicating things. One thing that sort of didn’t completely make sense was the title itself, yes the word is bandied about a few times but never really explained in detail. However this could be a case of me being a little dimwitted and maybe the next couple of viewings (believe me, it will happen with you as well) will straighten things out. The make-up and special effects are beautifully understated and work very well in combination with the tone of the entire movie. Be it a 70’s era bar or a retro-futuristic training center from the 60’s the production design is excellent.

A lot can be said about the story but ‘Predestination’ is one of those movies where viewing it is an absolute pleasure as is figuring out the plot line. The trailer gives a simple picture of a temporal policing organization that prevents crimes(a la Philip K Dick stories). An agent is sent back to prevent the devastating attacks of the ‘Fizzle Bomber’. In his journey back in time he meets a man who names himself ‘The Unmarried Mother’ and says he can relate to the agent the best story he’s ever heard. A question posed to us again and perhaps again is that when confronted by the man who ruined one’s life what would one do when there is a guarantee of getting away with anything. Would death be such an easy thing to deal out or inflict? Time paradoxes are wonderfully interesting subjects that have been overdone in movies. But from time to time there comes along a movie that not only piques and sustains interest but prompts us to watch the movie a couple of more times for the sheer enjoyment of figuring out a puzzle. Full marks to the Spierig brothers, Michael and Peter, the latter of whom has also handled the background music superbly.

Three and a half stars