Predestination

Sitting at the bar with a shorter haircut telling her story, Sarah Snook looks like a young DiCaprio in the 'pre-Titanic' era, and not only does she look it, she gives a similarly fantastic performance. The entire first hour, its narrative, offers one of the most interesting passages the film world has delivered in the last year. Unfortunately, though, when the cards are laid on the table, the only thing left to play with are the temporal paradoxes so beautifully parodied in the Back to the Future trilogy. It's a great shame because a lot of potential was wasted. (05/01/2015)

An irresistibly sexy flick during which I felt extreme anticipation for a carefully concealed and emotional point that would further confirm its cleverness. Instead, however, it becomes an endless loop in which everything possible is overwrought and it thus remains “only” a sexy flick that’s nicely paced and spectacularly shot with an interesting story. (20/01/2024)

The timing remains on a minimalist plane for an incredibly long time. It plays on dialogues, the power of the gaze, and Sarah Snook's fascinating performance. And given how Ethan Hawke revels in conversations, the rest of the running time logically begins to flag despite its unrelenting tension. Which doesn't matter as much as it might seem – of course, only if the viewer is able to engage in the game the screenplay presents. Many betrayals can be sensed from the opening scene, but the barrage of twists that Michael and Peter Spierig start throwing in towards the end truly takes your breath away. Perhaps the next viewing will reveal if this predestined violin case is really an all-encompassing appetizer that pleasantly unsettles with its blend of unconventional romance, uncompromising sci-fi, and unusual editing – or if it gets tangled up in the constantly escalating series of plot twists. (06/01/2015)

I couldn't get the taste for it. I like time travel movies, but so far none of them have been able to fully satisfy me. Predestination has an original and unorthodox premise, but unfortunately I didn't find it very appealing or entertaining. In fact, there was hardly any action at all, the suspense was also lacking, the twists and turns were too few for a thriller, and somehow it didn't click as it should have. 55% (03/12/2014)

Here even the word “paradox” falls short… In other time-travel films, time paradoxes are obstacles that the filmmakers try to overcome to no avail, and which fully manifest once the viewer begins to question the logic of the story, but in Predestination, the paradox is the alpha and the omega of the story. The creators carefully build it, almost trying to make it as paradoxical as possible. (25/11/2014)