In Time

Review:

In the future, all people are genetically engineered to stop aging once they reach 25. Sounds great. The downside is that that’s when your ‘clock’ starts: a display on your arm which shows how much time you have left, down to the second. Once started, it never stops ticking; and when it stops, so do you... In this world, time is the new currency.

Justin Timberlake is Will Salas; an ordinary factory worker till something extraordinary changes his life. Out drinking one night, he rescues a guy from being killed by thieves. Will discovers he’s saved Henry Hamilton; one of the wealthiest people alive. In this world, as long as the rich live highly protected and risk-free lives, they never die. Henry reveals the truth to Will about their society: many must die so that a few can live forever. Henry, however, has had enough. He gives all his remaining decades to a sleeping Will then ‘times out’. Will wakes up with more time than he knows what to do with. Though when his mother runs out of time, he wants revenge...

Cillian Murphy gives a good performance as a timekeeper, a modern policeman who finds large amounts of time when they go missing. For 50 years he has been steadfastly ‘keeping time’. He doesn’t care why people steal time; he only cares about retrieving it... Amanda Seyfried is also good as Sylvia Weis, daughter of one of the richest of the elite and highly critical of her sheltered life: ‘The poor all die; the rich never live...’ A fascinating reconceptualisation of issues of social justice, as well as a highly entertaining action/sci-fi film. Well worth a view.

Natalie Tyldesley