It’s a rare film where even just mentioning the name of the short story it’s based on is a massive spoiler. But while Predestination is based on a classic science fiction short story, it’s also based on a short story that is (famously) nothing but a series of twists – and while this film version has more to offer than just that, those twists remain such a central part of the story that … let’s just say the less you know going in the better.
In an unnamed time, a faceless man tracks down a bomb hidden in the basement of a large building. He tries to stop it going off, but thanks to the intervention of someone – presumably the bomb’s planter – he only partially succeeds. Horribly burnt, he manages to return to his own time, where medical technology is advanced enough to give him a whole new face (that of Ethan Hawke). It turns out he’s a professional time traveller, sent out by his boss (Noah Taylor) on missions to prevent crimes and mass killings – specifically those being committed by someone known only as “The Fizzle Bomber”. The bomber is building up to something big in the early ’70s and they can’t quite seem to get a lock on him; our hero is just about burnt out (too much time travel is bad for your mental health), but he wants one last stab at the case. So back to early ’70s New York he goes to work as a bartender – and that’s where he’s working when a customer (Sarah Snook) comes in with a very strange story to tell.
Writer/directors Michael and Peter Spierig (Daybreakers, Undead) skilfully tell their very complex story in a relatively straightforward manner, helped in large part by a pair of excellent performances from their two leads in roles that require a lot more from them than it initially might seem. Time travel stories often struggle to add up to more than a collection of twists even when they’re telling a superficially emotional tale, and while this does better than most for much of its running time – again, Snook does an excellent job here – it does start to falter a little towards the end as the twists and turns mount. As time travel tales go, this certainly gives you a lot to think about; it’s definitely not one where you can afford to let your mind wander.