"THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT" (2024) Is The Lo-Fi, High-Concept Time Travel Movie You Should See Now! (REVIEW)

Time travel movies are like seeing exotic fruit at the market, you’re immediately drawn in and mystified, maybe even a little confused.  So many colors and textures but how does it even make sense?  It looks like a banana but why is the peel rhinoceros hide? It vaguely resembles an orange but how is that color purple even possible and are those teeth?!  They’re unlike anything else in the bin, cobbled together, Prometheus style, from parts that don’t fit organically together, and sometimes, despite all these elements that shouldn’t work, they turn out to be the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted. “THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT” directed by Michael Felker is a mash-up of genres that shouldn’t really work but somehow do in a bold new, completely satisfying way. Felker has previously worked as the editor for Justine Benson and Aaron Moorhead on “SOMETHING IN THE DIRT,” “SYNCHRONIC” and “THE ENDLESS.”  Here Felker takes the reins as both writer and director and to say that this film announces the arrival of a unique talent to the genre would be an understatement. 

Felker has taken a familiar story, estranged brother and sister reconnecting, added a folksy, backwoods noir to it by having the pair on the run from the police with a bag full of stolen money and injected a layer of matter of fact time travel that adds depth, drama, confusion and pathos to this incredibly well made lo-fi, high concept sci-fi breakout.

Joseph (Adam David Thompson, “GLASS”) reaches out to Sydney (Riley Dandy, “INTERCEPTOR”) telling her to rendezvous at a country diner.  It’s established that Joe has stolen money, which Sydney is aware of and supports enthusiastically as this will provide a better life for her and her daughter. They plan to hide out at a secluded farmhouse but not just to lay low, Joe has instructions from a client for a time machine that will send them 2 weeks into the future. They’ll wait out those 14 days at the farm as our timeline catches up with theirs,  unmoored from time and space as the heat dies down. It’s the perfect plan, or so it would seem. Let’s just say poet Robert Burns had it right, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” The beauty of “THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT” is that all of these high-concept ideas are presented in such simple ways.  There are no blinking lights, dials, or screens, no miles of intertwined cables, there’s barely any tech at all in this film. The mechanics of time travel are initiated by Grandfather clocks and old oak door closets and it truly grounds the story in a dusty, earthen reality that’s a welcome departure from the typical time travel films we’re used to seeing.

The chemistry between Thompson and Dandy is so strong you immediately believe they’re siblings with history both good and bad.  For a movie with barely 5 actors and essentially a single location, if your protagonists aren’t dynamic enough to hold the screen and drive the plot the movie falls flat. We can't say enough about the leads here and the hope is that they become ensemble players for future Felker projects, they’re that good. 

The 3rd act of the film delivers increased stakes and drama as our pair try to figure out how to get out of their predicament and what forces might be at work against them. We will say that like all time travel films the logic behind the “how” is often so baffling that it needs to be set aside for later viewing so as not to miss any of what’s happening on screen.  This is not a dig at the theories being introduced or discovered in the film, it’s just to say that they are mind-boggling in the best way and one of the selling points of a great time travel movie. The last 10 minutes are some of the best we’ve seen on screen this year and truly stick the landing.  To walk away from a time travel film, which can lean cold and calculated, reeling from the power of what can be gained or sacrificed in the name of the family was devastating and elevates this film alongside such classics as Shane Curruth’s “PRIMER” and would make a fantastic back to back watch.  Michael Felker has certainly set a bar here in the sub-genre and we’re excited to see what he tackles next.

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