‘Wibbly wobbley, timey whimy’, as a famous Doctor once said, quite accurately sums up the vastly complicated intricacies of time travel. While many of us would enjoy the supposed benefits of jumping through history, seeing the dinosaurs, meeting our favourite historical figure, tasting that sweet, sweet Dodo meat – the more philosophical of us stop to ponder the ramifications of such a jaunt, how going backwards could change the present and the ultimate quandary – the time travellers’ paradox. Also known as the Grandfather paradox, it posits the idea that time travel is in fact impossible, as if you can go back in time and kill a younger version of yourself (or indeed your grandfather before he has a chance to procreate) then you wouldn’t exist to be able to go back in time in the first place. Confused yet? You will be.
We meet our anti-hero Tim Travers, played exhaustingly by Samuel Dunning, speaking to a right-wing podcast host (a strangely placed Joel McHale) about the concept of the time travel and the inevitable paradox it presents. Travers has been building a time machine which will bring him back to moments before he steps within it, but what then will he do with such a machine? He’s also making eyes at Delilah, the cynical podcast producer (Felicia Day) who takes a shine to Travers quirky personality and asks him out. Travers relays his tale, with the technology complete, he steps into the machine and promptly shoots his younger self. What follows is a veritable bloodbath as Travers tries to prove cause and effect, pausing briefly for a disastrous date with Delilah, slowly realising that the understood paradox is meaningless. Struggling with the concept of space time theory being wrong, multiple versions of Travers theorising over the best course of action, leading to some calamitous, funny, sexy and surprisingly touching events, while his meddling in the timeline begins to unravel the world around him – not that he notices for most of the movie.
Throw in being pursued by a terrorist gang intent on murdering Travers for stealing their nuclear material for his machine (Great Scott! Anyone?), it’s a tough 24 hours for our protagonist. But what will Tim learn about himself and what he wants from life and ultimately, can he learn to love himself enough to prevent the end of the world?
Beginning life as a short film, Tim Travers and the Time Travelers Paradox, the movie follows many of the beats as the short. Both are dialogue and sci-fi jargon heavy, think space time theory with witty quips thrown in for good measure – a little like when in the film The Big Short, Margot Robbie explained aspects of the global monetary recession from the bathtub, Travers explains scientific theories to versions of himself after a few drinks in a bar all while other versions of himself fight over the last donut.
What follows is a veritable bloodbath as Travers tries to prove cause and effect… slowly realising that the understood paradox is meaningless.
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Where the film differs from the short is in the interactions Travers has with his other selves, handily name tagged (Alpha, Beta, Zeta, etc, etc) so we can attempt to keep up with what these versions of Travers are doing. These sub plots between the various Travers become much more interesting than the initial premise – examining the concept of self-love – quite literally – in both a farcical and touching way. This direction was unexpected, but appreciated, and gives a deeper layer to the feature length that the short doesn’t touch on.
Travers is played admirably by Sam Dunning, who hardly off screen the whole run time and must have shot many, many versions of the same scene as the different versions of himself but never appears to be tired of it, as individual Tim’s develop unique personalities which set them apart from each other. Dunning is well cast in the role – sardonic Travers values the pursuit of science over real life interactions, so it’s ironic he should be faced with some many versions of himself to have to interact with. Dunning is able to reign in the ‘mad scientist’ shtick when he needs to, finding the quiet moments where required, as well as good comedic timing throughout. The amount of work Dunning puts into the role shouldn’t be underestimated, especially given that his interactions with other actors are minimal.
Apart from Travers, Felicia Day’s Delilah plays a love interest of sorts – similarly cynical, she calls out the self-obsessed Travers when they attempt to have a date but proves unable to handle the complexity of Tim’s experiment when he shows it to her, retreating to her bedroom and denying what she experienced. Day’s obviously having fun here, it’s in her wheelhouse and not a huge departure from previous roles she held, in Supernatural for example, but she is a good foil for the rascally Travers. Joel McHale is oddly cast – he and Danny Trejo as the boss of the terrorists are more like cameo’s than fully fleshed out roles, but they commit to their parts, bringing a little gravitas to the cast list. It feels off to have such a small cast when there are so many people acting on screen, it just happens that they are all being portrayed by the one actor.
Worldbuilding is strong despite the limited locations, but it does feel as if the character of Tim Travers has jumped from the pages of a comic book – helped by the stylistic sets showcasing Travers large warehouse, emblazed with his name, almost as if we should know who he is already. Given that the short film and the feature share so many similarities – sets, music and Dunning himself as Tim Travers, the obviously limited budget does well not to make the film look shoddy or thrown together – especially with the fact that Travers has to interact with himself, the effects employed to make that happen are largely seamless, which is to be appreciated as it really could have impacted a longer film if they weren’t.
Writer and director Stimson Snead hasn’t yet done a lot, but was a co-producer on 2022’s Mystery Science Theatre: The Return, which makes sense for where the humour of this movie is pitched. He even pops up as a exasperated terrorist in the film, tasked with killing Travers. It feels like he and Dunning enjoyed making this film, that comes through strongly in both the writing and performances.
The wider theme of learning to love yourself was unexpected in a sci-fi comedy, but it elevates this from the norm and provides a satisfying climax to the film without being heavy handed. If another big screen adventure isn’t forthcoming, then Tim Travers could have a future in graphic novels, exploring other paradoxes and accepted space and time theory in his own unique way – if this first outing is anything to go by, we should be seeing more of Tim Travers in the future.
Tim Travers and the The Time Traveler’s Paradox is out now on all good Digital Platforms via Grimmvision
