Found in Time (2012) User Reviews

Interesting and Worth a Watch for the Patient

[betchaareoffendedeasily · 4 November 2020]

This has a fairly unique premise, while movies about psychics being commonplace isn't strange, the way these people interact with society is unique to say the least. Rather than these people necessarily telling the future, they rather provide services to "normal" people as street vendors because they are unable to integrate into "normal" society. This is a rich concept that is a fantastic idea without all of the complicated trappings of this film, and the concept certainly suffers from the convoluted nature of this film, being filmed out sequence, and it also revolves around alternate timelines and universes.

This is not at all as bad as some people are claiming, it requires extreme close attention to detail while you watch, it still leaves a little too much ambiguity, a little less philosophical waxing, and a little more explanation in some areas would have really helped. That said, it is still an interesting film to watch with a lot of philosophical ideas. By the end of the film, you are left to mull over what you watched and try to piece it together, and while that is fine, it does suffer from throwing too many ideas into the mix, there is a heck of a lot going on here philosophically: the idea of what it means to be "good", the concept of free will versus fate, near death experiences, the nature of consciousness, the nature of love, and more.

The acting is decent enough, the camera work is decent, the sound is good, music is very minimally used here(which is a good thing), and the script, as already stated is a bit too convoluted for its own good, but very interesting. This is a good film for those who enjoy their movies left of center and do not like everything spoon fed to them, anyone who wants everything explained will probably turn this off in anger or beat the TV or phone out of frustration. In the end, it remains an ambitious piece of low-budget film making that never totally gels together, but still has a lot to offer.

Failed utterly to entertain me. Bizarre AND failed to entertain ME.

[doughyrax · 1/10 · 23 November 2015]

Either I am too stupid to "get it" or the one's who claim to get it are afraid of appearing too stupid, like an "Emperor's New Clothes" kind of thing? i won't insist on the latter. I mean it was easy enough to see the artistic attempt, a kind of Picasso thing or something using film making rather than paint. Employing many devices such as masks on Psychologists, and serving up cups of coffee supposedly individually programmed to a person's current needs in something ....

Look, I am not Mensa or anything, not educated in critiquing of art etc. But at the same time I am also not one that can stand being force fed things employing idiot laugh tracks or gross cliché otherwise found so enjoyable to the lower end of the scale...ya know? Somewhere in the middle is what I am saying, for whatever that is worth, considering my opinion.

Bottom line, for me personally? it was a big fat FAIL. I don't think anyone could honestly, straight faced not immediately recognize that much of the acting lacked severely ....amateur hour kind of of thing one might see in after hours soft cable porn or high school plays etc. Don't get me wrong, I mean I really do think I sort of see what the screenplay and direction attempted to do, but it just fails IMHO...as they say "Your Mileage may Vary" (YMMV?) I am thinking that someone more skilled MIGHT be able to pull something off like this attempt, but these folks just failed in my case. (did I overuse the word "fail"? I don't think so...lol)

Like it or hate it

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 1 August 2017]

This movie is going to be confusing at times. It is about a different kind of multiverse than our own. The basic physical laws are different. There are people with special gifts. Most of them can affect objects somehow to have mysterious properties. For example, there is one who can make coffee that gives you a certain kind of boost for your day, like stamina or confidence. These people have trouble making it in society so the become street "vendors".

Meanwhile they live in an autocratic society. There are "pyschcops" whose only duty seems to be to harass street vendors. The rules are a little fuzzy, but if you break them, you get sent to the "Mine". Like it sounds, you don't want to go there.

Chris and Ayana are even more different. They can bounce around in time. Sometimes they start in a meadow with some god-like person who sends them back into the "real" world. Sometimes their time jumps seem more random.

To the viewer, it is very confusing. If you allow the confusion to overwhelm you, you may give up and hate this movie. If you stick with it, there is an ongoing mystery, or mysteries, as you learn more and more about the background and what's going on. For me, it was definitely worth it as things came together and it clicked. For certain, this is not your average time travel movie.

MacLeod Andrews is Chris and he has to hold your attention while portraying a man with apparent hallucinations, and time-loss, and other issues, and I think he does a good job. Kelly Sullivan is OK as Chris's girlfriend and has her own role challenges to deal with. Mina Vesper Gokal plays Ayana who also has to deal with playing a woman in a disjointed world, but she has the added characteristic of seeming to actually be a little weird or nutty. The acting does not take away from the movie.

This is not a high budget film and the production is OK. Special effects are minimal.

Stick with this movie with an expectant attitude and there is a good chance you will enjoy it.

Confounding, but strangely beautiful

[info-12388 · 8/10 · 24 February 2013]

I'm not sure I could even begin to describe this film's plot, save that it has something to do with street-merchant psychics and the maybe-maybe-not deaths of two policemen. It bounces back and forth through time — not to mention alternate times — so much that for the first little while, you're sure to be wondering what you've gotten yourself into by watching it.

But about halfway through, suddenly it all starts to make some sort of elegantly distant sense, and you find yourself getting wrapped up in the story of someone who might or might not have killed someone and who might or might not be working at a place where he divines the owners of bits of stuff for the benefit of unknown powers that be.

I know I'm not making a lot of sense. Neither does FOUND IN TIME. It has a secondary character who might be God or might be someone else. We're not sure, and the screenwriter doesn't say for certain one way or another. But his job appears to be to send people around in time to do... something... somehow...

It's just strange and odd and yet very compelling. A friend of mine described it as "12 Monkeys without a budget" — and yet it's not because it's far more complex. You have to keep your wits about you watching a movie like this.

The reason for eight stars and not 10? It has its shortcomings — the masks the psychologists wear look, at the outset, a little... okay, a lot silly. I understand the concept behind them, but they don't really work all that well. And there are moments when the storyline becomes a little too self-reflectively precious... and yet I'm not sure where you could trim that away without ruining the very distinct pleasure this film offers. And while most of the performances are distinctly compelling, a few — specifically, the two policemen and the girlfriend — are just a tad over the top, thus ruining the "reality" the film seeks to portray.

But I can forgive those, actually: it's a low-budget indie film, after all. Once you look past those are how wondrously brilliant the conceit and its execution are, there are joys to be found.

Just watch out for the nails...

Out There & Strange Conglomeration of Weirdness - But Entertaining If You Follow It

[grfulnfree-72649 · 7/10 · 29 October 2019]

This is sort of a "fun" interesting movie that draws you in bc you really want to see where all the strangeness leads. There are many flaws, but considering the low budget indie status, I think they can be overlooked for the most part. The leads were decent with their acting, the psycops were horrible. I agree the psych masks were also silly, they could have showed anonymity using a different sort of mask. The psychedelic graphics at the beginning credits were a nice touch, as were all the other artistic touches throughout the movie. I agree, not all will like or appreciate this film, it takes a certain "type" to appreciate a unique work like this. I'd say if the synopsis and the reviews click for you, you should give it a shot ull be entertained by something completely different than mainstream.

Watch this movie Out of Sequence!!!

[fermionspin · 10/10 · 16 November 2019]

The challenge I had with this movie is me. I want to have a rough sketch of where things are going so that the flood of detail can be associated, made sense of, pondered, and leveraged in my work's break room. If a movie doesn't show me "Relevance" within the first 15 minutes, I wonder if I'm just watching another Indie movie that will quickly be forgotten.

Basic Notes: Vendors, including our protagonist, must work six days a week selling the fruits of their psychic powers. Because their powers are potentially destabilizing in this Autocratic Alternative Reality (that mysteriously co-exists in NY City), Pycho-Cops/Trawlers check in on them everyday like social workers to ensure that they stay in-line. The issue is that the vendors may sell something that is either particularly dangerous or civilization destabilizing. The Headshrinkers/Psychologists see "normal people" fill up their "slow day" by seeing Vendors as their patients. Curiously, the Headshrinkers wear a face mask/helmet that can zap if you get too close and obscures their facial expressions (yet their name badges and visible). Our protagonist, sometimes called "The Collector," is having an intimate relationship with a Headshrinker. The other notable character is the day-dream shaman that our protagonist only sees while he's walking through a dream forest that connects his life's timeline as well as those of others, such as the new street vendor that is given a "license" by the authorities and assigned a spot next to him on the sidewalk. To propel the narrative along, the Vendors have customers that may be either "Normals" or Headshrinkers who are looking for an item that will add magic to their lives. Maybe it's an old ring, a rock, something woven, a bouncy ball... Our protagonist lives life out of sequence, like the movie Girl Interrupted or Merlin. He lives his life all jumbled up in time, making him like a time traveler when he has knowledge of the future and the ability to act on that information in the present. The Headshrinkers know this and they talk about it in terms like "Slipping Time" with a foreboding concern that this may result in catastrophic changes to reality. Curiously, our protagonist hasn't been abducted by the authoritarian government and forced to do their bidding like the Pre-Cogs in the movie Minority Report... or maybe he already has been sent to the place called "The Mines" in the future that is currently his past? The problem is Time itself. And the meds, spiked with something illicit, don't help at all.

Watching Notes: This sequence still leaves the artistically done chaotic time jumping, but begins with a solid introduction of the characters, a rough sketch of the plot, and some beautiful short-hand that reveals the internal struggles that the characters are going through.

(1) Start watching this movie at 32:35 ... stop at 40:30 (2) Continue at 0:00 to 32:35 (3) Resume at 40:31 to the end.

Beautiful, complex, low budget sci/fi fantasy.

[Bcphx · 10/10 · 7 October 2013]

I saw this movie in October of 2012 at it's screening for Shirekfest. It was my favorite film of the festival (it ended up winning best sci/fi feature). It's been over a year since I've seen the movie, but I still think of it often. As an independent filmmaker working on my first feature length movie, I was blown away by it's energy and compelling story. Time has blurred the details so I won't attempt to give a thorough analysis, but I was enthralled and totally wrapped up in the experience of the movie. It soars with a joy for story telling absent in so many big budget Hollywood films, demonstrating low budget/gorilla film making at it's best. Some scenes were clearly shot on the busy streets of NYC using passersby as extras. Some went so far as to wave at the camera. This only added to the charm of the film. I check the website often hoping the film has been picked up for distribution. I would love to see this indie gem again and show it to my friends as well.