Out of Frame: Timecrimes

Hector isn’t much of a hero; he’s a balding, middle-aged, middle class guy who enjoys afternoon naps and scanning the yards of his neighbors through those binoculars attempting to find items of more interest than what’s in his own backyard. It’s this voyeuristic sense of overactive curiosity that gets him into trouble in the first place, as he goes wandering in the woods beyond his fence when he spies a young girl mysteriously disrobing in a clearing, and goes to “investigate.” And it’s there that a psycho in a ratty overcoat and a head wrapped in bloody rags goes after him, forcing him to flee to a nearby scientific research center. A lab assistant sends him back in time to save him from his assailant. Hector is impulsive and not too bright when faced with a crisis, which is an annoying quality in a lead character, but it’s these very qualities that move the story forward, so on this we can give Vigalondo a pass.

Particularly when the movie itself is so clever and entertaining. Vigalondo proves himself highly talented at managing to sustain an even and thrilling tone even when not directing films that are only a few minutes long, as has been the case with his previous work. The idyllic but mundane world of the film’s opening segues smoothly into a sequence out of a highly intelligent slasher film, before finally settling into its niche as a darkly funny, and at times mildly disturbing, sci-fi thriller. The scientific specifics of time travel are never discussed, but the question doesn’t ever really occur to you; as framed by Vigalondo’s script, you simply accept it as a reality, no convoluted explanations involving flux capacitors and stainless steel cars required. He even manages to explain to Hector how he’s able to be in two places at once via a drawing consisting of just a curved arrow and two “X”s.

One wishes that Hollywood made more movies like this: pure entertainments that are smart enough not to try to appeal to any lowest common denominator, and don't feel the need to dress themselves up with heavy effects. Vigalondo has made an entirely plausible science fiction movie with fewer effects shots than the average American romantic comedy, and it’s far better for having to stick to its realistic setting. Its pleasures are simple, and hardly groundbreaking, but it’s impossible to leave the theater not feeling completely satisfied with how you spent the previous 90 minutes. Cross your fingers that someone in L.A. gives this guy a project; he has the potential to be the sort of gloomily atmospheric and inventive filmmaker that M. Night Shyamalan never quite became.

Now playing at E Street. In Spanish with English subtitles.