It’s been since Mulholland Drive, Lynch’s puzzle, that I have been so lost at the end of a movie.
Primer is a mind puzzle thriller about a couple of techies that by accident build a time travel machine. As expected they get invigorated by its power and things happen as you can imagine. However figuring out exactly how it is happening its what makes it really enjoyable. I mean you can get the main idea at the end of the movie, you sort of understand what happens as you move along, but I, at least, could not really explained it.
So what did I do?… I watched it twice in a row, then jumped on their website, read many theories and I am dying to watch it again just to check which theory likely is right.
Primer won the jury award at Sundance 2004, and, as you, probably, I’d never heard of it. The movie is as low budget as likely possible. It is written, directed, produced, edited, music, and acted by the same guy Shane Carruth (KUDOS to him by the way). There are a couple, really a couple, of visual effects, sound isn’t great, acting outside the main two guys is very amateur at best. Dave Sullivan (the other main character) is very good. The script is sound, the storytelling is very good, good pace mostly, and it is, in my humble opinion, very well directed. Not anyone can pull it off with such a complicated story. The first 20 min or sort the first act is quite heavy on science lingo and it is hard to know what to make it out of the movie. Hang in there, the second act is quite strong, and a very good finish.
I won’t get into any details because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that might read this…
Trailer at their website.
