- Directed by Bradley King
- Written by Bradley King, Bp Cooper
- Stars Danielle Panabaker, Matt O’Leary, George Finn
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YhP-VfH81E
Spoiler-Free Judgement Zone
When three roommates find a camera that predicts the future, they run into problems they didn’t foresee. It’s well done and presents some interesting things to think about.
Synopsis
Finn’s an artist with no ideas. He’s also the building manager, who gets called to unblock toilets. Callie comes home and makes lasagna for Finn and Jasper.
Callie goes to check on Mr. Bezzerides, who hasn’t been picking up his newspaper and hasn’t paid his rent. She lets herself in and finds something weird. She brings over the guys and finds hundreds of photos of their living room. There’s also a very unique-looking camera that’s bolted to the floor, pointed at their picture window directly across the courtyard.
They soon figure out that the camera takes pictures of things that are going to happen in the future. They read in the old man’s diary that he foresaw his own death and tried to change the outcome. They go down to his storage locker and find Mr. Bezzerides burnt to a crisp.
Jasper suggests that they hold up a newspaper in front of the camera and get tomorrow’s news, today. Finn just wants to call the police about the body. Calle votes on Jasper’s plan.
The next photo shows Finn’s completed painting that he hasn’t started yet. It also shows Jasper’s race results. Callie comes up with a theory that explains what happened to Mr. B. If they try to deviate from what the photos show, then things would be… bad.
The next day, Callie cleans up Mr. B’s apartment so no one will notice he’s gone. Jasper wins big at the races, and Finn paints something nice. Several days pass, and they all do quite well. Finn hears Mr. B’s phone ringing, and it’s someone who misses the old man; Finn continues to feel guilty about hiding the body.
The next picture shows Jasper and Callie kissing, which especially annoys Finn. Jasper doesn’t even want to do it, but they have to or they might burn up like the old man. They follow through and do the kiss, simply because they’re afraid not to. Unfortunately, they enjoy it all a little too much.
The next photo shows Jasper with Ivan, his bookie. This is not normal, and Jasper is very worried. Jasper ends up telling Ivan too much. Jasper’s been drinking and taking too many drugs; he’s not looking healthy.
The next night, they do as the camera says, and this time, Ivan shows up; he’s figured out most of it. He’s also brought Marcus, his enforcer. Ivan keeps the day’s photo, which means Finn no longer can see his painting. Finn threatens to end things by calling the police or destroying the machine.
For the next photo, Jasper takes a picture of the photo on his phone. It’s a skull and crossbones and all three of them look afraid in the photo. Could this be a warning? Jasper hides weapons all over the house, just in case. Marcus sees Finn talking to Big Joe, who is now a cop. It looks like Finn was talking to the police. That’s going to give Ivan the wrong idea. Ivan comes over and threatens Callie. Jasper tells Ivan that tomorrow’s photo shows Marcus killing Ivan and taking over. Things then go really badly for Marcus and Ivan. They dump the bodies in the storage room with what’s left of Mr. B.
Dr. Heidegger comes to the door. She’s a friend of Mr. B., who’s come to find the old man. She pulls a gun. She knows all about the camera. They show her Bezzerides’ body, and she tells them it wasn’t “time” that killed him – it was just an accident with toxic chemicals. She knows that the machine can shoot photos at more times than just every day at eight and more than just one day in advance. He sent her a photo from well into the future, which shows a blood spatter on their window and none of them in the photo. After he finds out she has no idea how to change the settings or help in any other way, Jasper shoots the old woman.
Tomorrow’s photo is Callie and Jasper having sex while Finn is asleep on the couch behind them. Jasper locks Finn in the storage room with the bodies. Finn escapes but just leaves the door open. Finn grabs a bucket of water and threatens to destroy the camera unless Jasper lets Callie go. Let’s just say this will be their final photo…
Commentary
Are they taking advantage of the camera, or is the camera taking advantage of them? When the pictures come out, they have to do what it shows. It gets very chicken-or-egg sometimes.
You’d think they could have gone with Bitcoin, the stock market, or something safer than gambling on races. At least bet on races at a big track instead of through a thug of a bookie. Or at the very least, throw in a few lost races once in a while instead of continually winning. Jasper just isn’t very smart about this.
It’s pretty good. The acting, cinematography, story, and concepts are all great. It’s a small cast, and although they don’t always make the best choices, at least the repercussions of their actions seem believable. And it leaves you eager to see what happens next. Overall, it was a fun movie dealing with foreknowledge without the overhead of real time travel.