Bradley D. King
Time Lapse

'Time-lapse photography' is a cinematographic technique in which the frequency of capturing each frame is much lower than that of playback. Due to this difference, projection at a standard frame rate makes the time in the footage appear to pass faster than normal.

Surely those who understand photography could explain this concept much better than I can. As far as I know, and trying to explain the thing in a practical way, the technique is essentially the same as that used in photography by Polaroids for so-called 'instantaneous' photos.

This 2014 science fiction film directed and written by director Bradley D. King, aptly titled 'Time Lapse', bases its content on the principles of this cinematographic technique, translating into a science fiction thriller with an intricate plot and paradoxically full of intertwining that will only be unraveled in the end.

The protagonists of the story are three young people, Finn (Matt O'Leary) and Callie (Danielle Panabaker) and their roommate Jasper (George Finn). The three lead a life full of frustrations, Finn and Callie are a couple in crisis and two unresolved artists, Jasper spends his days playing video games, until by pure chance they come into possession of an unknown technology that allows them to see into the future.

This is made possible through the use of a special large Polaroid mounted in the apartment opposite, previously inhabited by an eccentric old man, and pointed at their living room, which every day at the same time (8:00 PM) takes a picture of an event that will occur exactly 24 hours after the photo is taken. The prediction of the future consequently triggers a series of events that they are at this point 'forced' to lead in the direction for the facts depicted in the photo to occur: deviating from what is practically a forced choice could indeed bring them unpredictable and negative consequences.

Initially intimidated by this technology and its potential and possible negative consequences, after considering the opportunity to destroy the machine, the three young people finally decide to use it for their interests: Finn is a painter going through a crisis, and through the photos, he manages to see his canvas completed and knows in which direction he needs to work every time; Jasper, on the other hand, is a compulsive gambler who wants to use this to get rich by knowing in advance what to bet on. In short, this will lead them to get what they want but also to unexpected negative consequences. First, they will come into conflict with a 'broker' from the underworld and subsequently, in a state of total disarray dictated by the nervousness of the time that haunts them and by the inability to miss the appointment with the 'shot', they will end up turning against each other.

The debut film by director Bradley D. King, the film premiered at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and was well received by critics. After all, considering it's a low-budget film, it still manages to be well-directed and interestingly develops all the intricacies of the case, which are inevitable in a film with time travel as its main theme. On the other hand, one might argue that the idea itself is not entirely original. How can we not mention in this regard the popular nineties television series called 'Early Edition', in which the protagonist Gary Hobson (Kyle Chandler) receives every day on his home doormat, delivered by his cat, a copy of the Chicago Sun-Times from the following day (i.e., the news of events that will happen on the day he receives the newspaper). Or a film that has been compared to this although it is far superior for the ingenuity of the combination and the different plots, like 'Primer' by Shane Carruth.

Not a masterpiece but suggested if you don't have overly intellectual expectations and are satisfied with a plot that is only relatively intricate in its development.