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Movies & TV News & Features

Time Lapse

TIME LAPSE (Bradley King). See listings. Rating: NNN


Time Lapse is one of the more offbeat entries in this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival, which runs Thursday (October 16) through October 24 at the Scotiabank and, as always, devotes its energies to horror, science fiction and general weirdness from the indie end of the cinematic spectrum.

Bradley King’s film uses its mix of science fiction and noirish crime movie to explore both philosophical questions of free will and predestination and the messier emotional territory of greed, jealousy and destructive self-deception. Along the way, it cranks up a fair degree of tension.

The SF gimmick that propels the action is a camera that takes pictures 24 hours into the future. It and a body fall into the hands of a trio of roommates – a blocked painter, his waiter girlfriend and his pill-head gambler buddy – who figures out how to monetize the situation, which brings unwanted criminal attention.

The acting and story carry the show. Leads Matt O’Leary, Danielle Panabaker and George Finn deliver strong, restrained performances with some unexpected choices, enabled by thoughtful dialogue. The story wrings some unusual changes on an already novel premise and never sags.

Fans looking for flashy effects will be disappointed: there aren’t any. Most of Time Lapse takes place in two rooms, but a rich colour palette and some disturbing compositions keep it visually engaging.

Screens Tuesday (October 21), 9:30 pm. See listings.

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