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Timestalker, 2024
Agnes (Alice Lowe) is a woman who is destined to live her life again and again---across different times and places---always feeling as if something is missing from her life, and always inevitably drawn to Alex (Aneurin Barnard). And seemingly also inevitably, whenever Agnes finally makes contact with Alex, she dies a horrible death. Can Agnes ever find happiness and keep her head?
This reincarnation romp gets good mileage out of a game cast, but gets mired a bit in its own story.
You know what you’re in for in this film almost right off the bat, as an enamored Agnes watches in dismay as Alex, a persecuted preacher in this incarnation, is set to be tortured to death. As she attempts to wrangle her misbehaving dog, Agnes trips and faceplants straight onto an axe.
It feels like the last 15 or so years have been filled with “groundhog day” style narratives where our protagonist gets attempt after attempt at getting it all right. What sets this film apart is its focus on the way that Agnes mythologizes her own journey, blind to the clues she gets over and over about who really cares for her.
It might not be apparent from the first sequence, but it becomes very quickly obvious that Alex is something of a loser and kind of a jerk. Because he is a fixture of her reincarnations, and because she always recognizes him, Agnes is convinced that being with Alex is the key to the happiness that has evaded her all these years. For his part, Alex is barely tolerant of Agnes, and often indifferent to her physical or emotional suffering.
What works really well in the film is that Agnes is not totally helpless, but nor is she willing to take a step back and consider anyone other than herself in her various schemes and adventures. She hits that sweet spot of a frustratingly flawed protagonist who you still root for, though in this case you’re not rooting for her to find a happy ending with Alex, but rather to break the hold he somehow has over her.
Agnes and her single-minded pursuit of Alex leads her to thoughtless and sometimes intentional cruelty toward Meg (Tanya Reynolds), a friend who also follows her through all of her incarnations, and who has romantic feelings about Agnes. When Meg, in the 80s, works up the courage to declare this to Agnes, Agnes waves her off, declaring “I’d rather be a slave than a lesbian.” The movie shows us a very familiar trope in some of the earlier incarnations: Agnes as a woman trapped in an abusive marriage to a brute of a man, George (Nick Frost), but in every incarnation makes sure to remind us that Agnes always has some degree of power, be that through her race, her wealth, her social standing, her job, etc. Agnes can never appreciate the things she does have going for her because of her romantic obsession. She also repeatedly falls into the trap of a relationship with George as a rebound situation when things don’t go well with Alex.
Rounding out the cast of recurring characters is Jacob Anderson as Scipio, a man who advises Agnes in all her incarnations, always pushing her to action, declaring that she is a “revolutionary”. Anderson brings a wry humor to his role, and it’s not always clear if Scipio is genuinely there to help or hinder Agnes.
Overall I really enjoyed the humor of the movie. I liked the nature of the time jumps, which are not always chronological. Acknowledging up front that Alex is not worthy of Agnes’ love means that the focus can be more on character growth than just the mechanics of the plot. I find this type of low-key sci-fi/fantasy very appealing visually and plot-wise. In this movie I see echoes of films like Orlando (a personal favorite) or the recent She is Connan.
I do think that the film spins its wheels a bit in the last act. Agnes realizing that Alex is not actually some sort of soulmate is a long time coming, and I didn’t think the film totally stuck the landing in that regard. I do think, however, that the last 5 or so minutes are pretty great.
Overall, I’d recommend this film. It did manage to surprise me and I thought the actors were all pretty fun in their roles.
Timestalker, 2024
Agnes (Alice Lowe) is a woman who is destined to live her life again and again---across different times and places---always feeling as if something is missing from her life, and always inevitably drawn to Alex (Aneurin Barnard). And seemingly also inevitably, whenever Agnes finally makes contact with Alex, she dies a horrible death. Can Agnes ever find happiness and keep her head?
This reincarnation romp gets good mileage out of a game cast, but gets mired a bit in its own story.
You know what you’re in for in this film almost right off the bat, as an enamored Agnes watches in dismay as Alex, a persecuted preacher in this incarnation, is set to be tortured to death. As she attempts to wrangle her misbehaving dog, Agnes trips and faceplants straight onto an axe.
It feels like the last 15 or so years have been filled with “groundhog day” style narratives where our protagonist gets attempt after attempt at getting it all right. What sets this film apart is its focus on the way that Agnes mythologizes her own journey, blind to the clues she gets over and over about who really cares for her.
It might not be apparent from the first sequence, but it becomes very quickly obvious that Alex is something of a loser and kind of a jerk. Because he is a fixture of her reincarnations, and because she always recognizes him, Agnes is convinced that being with Alex is the key to the happiness that has evaded her all these years. For his part, Alex is barely tolerant of Agnes, and often indifferent to her physical or emotional suffering.
What works really well in the film is that Agnes is not totally helpless, but nor is she willing to take a step back and consider anyone other than herself in her various schemes and adventures. She hits that sweet spot of a frustratingly flawed protagonist who you still root for, though in this case you’re not rooting for her to find a happy ending with Alex, but rather to break the hold he somehow has over her.
Agnes and her single-minded pursuit of Alex leads her to thoughtless and sometimes intentional cruelty toward Meg (Tanya Reynolds), a friend who also follows her through all of her incarnations, and who has romantic feelings about Agnes. When Meg, in the 80s, works up the courage to declare this to Agnes, Agnes waves her off, declaring “I’d rather be a slave than a lesbian.” The movie shows us a very familiar trope in some of the earlier incarnations: Agnes as a woman trapped in an abusive marriage to a brute of a man, George (Nick Frost), but in every incarnation makes sure to remind us that Agnes always has some degree of power, be that through her race, her wealth, her social standing, her job, etc. Agnes can never appreciate the things she does have going for her because of her romantic obsession. She also repeatedly falls into the trap of a relationship with George as a rebound situation when things don’t go well with Alex.
Rounding out the cast of recurring characters is Jacob Anderson as Scipio, a man who advises Agnes in all her incarnations, always pushing her to action, declaring that she is a “revolutionary”. Anderson brings a wry humor to his role, and it’s not always clear if Scipio is genuinely there to help or hinder Agnes.
Overall I really enjoyed the humor of the movie. I liked the nature of the time jumps, which are not always chronological. Acknowledging up front that Alex is not worthy of Agnes’ love means that the focus can be more on character growth than just the mechanics of the plot. I find this type of low-key sci-fi/fantasy very appealing visually and plot-wise. In this movie I see echoes of films like Orlando (a personal favorite) or the recent She is Connan.
I do think that the film spins its wheels a bit in the last act. Agnes realizing that Alex is not actually some sort of soulmate is a long time coming, and I didn’t think the film totally stuck the landing in that regard. I do think, however, that the last 5 or so minutes are pretty great.
Overall, I’d recommend this film. It did manage to surprise me and I thought the actors were all pretty fun in their roles.