Time Rewind

A feature-length time-travelling mystery drama written and directed by Lincoln Fenner and starring Tim Cullingworth-Hudson, Anna Fraser, Oliver Mason, Jon Untersander and Steve Lewington.

 

As the title suggests, this is a story that involves travelling through time and in this case, the plot constantly alternates between present-day Hampstead, London to 1989's Hampstead. After waking up on a bench at a churchyard, Sean (Cullingworth-Hudson) cannot remember how he got there. With partial amnesia and with the objects on his person including a notebook about time-travelling, a key, a necklace and a cassette, he sets out to find out what happened. Soon, he is apprehended by the police who are suspecting him of murdering his teenaged daughter, Jessica (Fraser), who has gone missing. It becomes evident this bizarre series of events is related to time-travelling back to 1989, when Sean was a teenager (Untersander).

 

When concentrating on the positive aspects of this feature, the music by Alejandro Villanueva Medina stands out enormously. The score sounds enchanting and light-hearted and creates feelings of magic and beauty and kind of tells the viewer that they are experiencing a story full of wonders. Another great element is the creative editing by Fenner, that includes well-constructed montages thanks to fast-cutting, dissolve and wipe techniques. The plot itself is also a plus, as time-travelling is an intriguing concept and there is much more to the screenplay than the ability to move through time due to the themes that it explores, which will be analysed later. The script also does well when it comes to character development and telling a story with plot twists, drama and mystery.

 

Where does this film go wrong? That might be during the third act that seems to drag a bit, feeling overlong. And also, regarding the montage sequences, as mentioned they are very well-made, nevetheless, they too feel overlong and appear to delay the story from moving forward.

 

Cullingworth-Hudson is sympathetic as a concerned parent who is desperate to locate his adoptive daughter, with whom he has a somewhat unstable relationship. Fraser is quite likeable as an everyday youngster who falls for Brett (Harrison Watson), a youth who used to torment Sean when he was young. Speaking of Watson, he puts on a decent performance as a tough bully and so does Tom Plenderleith as Sean's childhood friend and time-travelling enthusiast, Rupert. Special acknowledgement goes to Lewington as Grimsby, the no-nonsense detective who interrogates Sean. Regarding Untersander, unfortunately, he does not deliver a convincing performance as the young version of Sean, who is quite a different character in comparison to grown-up Sean.

 

The idea of travelling through time is a major theme here and, as mentioned, there are more subjects. Famly, parenting, friendship and romance themes are heavily present, as the film spends a great deal of time exploring the relationships between Sean and Jessica, the romantic relationship between Jessica and Brett, the friendship between young Sean and Rupert and the troubled situation between young Sean and Brett . Additionally, self-esteem, support, bullying, redemption and finding happiness play a part in developing this story.

 

This is not just another feature about time-travelling. More than about that hypothetical activity and a thriller, it is a story that acknowledges the idea that people need other people and they must cherish each other.