Tim Travers And The Time Traveler's Paradox

What happens if you go back in time and kill your younger self, so that you could never have been there to go back in time, except that then you wouldn’t have been killed, so you would be there, except then you would have killed yourself so you wouldn’t..? This is what is known as the time traveller’s paradox. There have been many boring films about it. This is a non-boring one. Where others have spent hours on fruitless debate, Tim Travers prefers to get straight to the point. He’ll find out if it’s true or not by trying it.

The film opens with a lovely long tracking shot between chain-link gates with a sign marked ‘Tim Travers: Advanced Particle Solutions’ and through the various yards and sheds in which the titular physicist (played by Samuel Dunning) carries out his work. Just how he afforded all this isn’t really addressed, but we get hints of a life wholly devoted to study, which is probably part of the reason why he has no social skills. He also appears to be in the middle of nowhere, which helps. This doesn’t stop him from finding a conspiracy-obsessed podcast host to whom to tell part of his tale, or from securing a date with the podcast producer, Delilah (Felicia Day), a fiery redhead whose intolerance for bullshit both thrills him and ensures that he’ll go home alone that night.

Loneliness seems to be the rule in the only bar in town, whose regulars take a good deal in their stride and also seem surprisingly well versed in current debates in astrophysics. Tim, however, doesn’t need to be lonely – not if he can meet up with other past versions of himself. At first this doesn’t go so well, owing to that bit about murder and the fact that an experiment really needs to be repeated several times for the results to hold weight, but by the time the original Tim – referred to be the others as ‘Alpha’, as each acquires a name badge to keep things in order – reconnects with Delilah the next day for a do-over, there are 30 of them in total, and those neglected social skills suddenly acquire a new importance.

The film comes perilously close to chaos as the various Tims try to balance their own desire to avoid being killed with the need to trust each other if they are to make sense of their predicament. Alpha continues to pursue Delilah, while an unexpected romantic subplot develops elsewhere, and some of the others find a less emotional, more exuberant outlet. Meanwhile, a hitman sent by the terrorists from whom Tim stole plutonium to power his experiment finds himself with a much bigger job than he anticipated, and Danny Trejo turns up in one of his best cameos for some time.

The physics isn’t perfectly worked out, but those with sufficient education to spot the holes will likely be amused enough by the various physics jokes to forgive it, whilst viewers who have no idea about that sort of thing will still find that they can enjoy the ride. Dunning is an admirable lead(s), somehow managing to keep track of several differing emotional arcs which complicate what start out as identikit characters. He’s one of those people with the capacity to be obnoxious and sympathetic at the same time, without which the film really wouldn’t work.

It’s a bold choice of first feature for Stimson Snead. Particular praise is due to editor JD McKee, who (as well as playing the aforementioned hit man) not only manages to keep track of a lot of moving parts, but does a pretty good job with the pacing and emotional balance as well. Successful films like this are few and far between, whilst the genre is littered with the bones of those that didn’t make it. Snead’s well-chosen team gets away with something that seemed impossible, and all cheesiness aside, that’s as strange and charming a thing as one might hope for.

Reviewed on: 28 May 2025