Primer

(Shane Carruth/2004/USA)

An incredible debut and shows how good sci-fi can be without big budgets and flashy effects. Some engineering friends pal together on a project in one of their garages which leads to the discovery of genuine time travel capabilities. The ensuing maze of time lines and narrative double takes and back flips boggles the mind on first viewing but repeated watches reward with glimpses at the bigger picture and maybe even further head scratching! Someone somewhere attempted to breakdown the storyline of this movie into a chart and it is as bewildering to look at as the movie itself. But not in a bad way in a brilliantly puzzling and riddle me this way. The whole thing took about 50 bucks to make and looks and sounds it but this is also part of its overall charm. As I said at the outset, an incredible debut and a must watch for more cerebral leaning sci-fi fans.

(4/5)