Films featuring time travel often carry with them the label of heavy science fiction, but Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" qualifies as something else. The typical themes and aesthetics of time travel stories are nowhere to be found in "Timecrimes," which instead focuses on a middle-aged man who essentially stumbles into a time machine and ends up going about an hour back in time, where he must "cover his tracks" and make deliberate choices to ensure his survival.The story plays out as a mind-bending mystery with crime thriller undertones, something reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's style only with the budget of his earliest work (and way more of a sense of humor). Hector (Karra Elejalde) begins the film as a bumbling nobody without much agency or fiber of any kind despite a perfectly lovely wife (Candela Fernandez) and home. The way his transformation unfolds is astounding and the big reason why "Timecrimes" surpasses its presumed station of low-budget sci fi.The film's conceit is fairly easy to identify before it is made overtly clear, but Vigalondo expertly keeps surprises in waiting, nullifying any issues of predictability. The film we thought we were watching turns into something different, but not in a jarring, disappointing way — in a way that's impressive and thought-provoking, as well as entertaining. A good comparison point for fans of time travel films is the simple, rudimentary production of Shane Carruth's 2004 film "Primer" (minus the esoterica) with the sense of stakes and excitement of "Back to the Future." It evokes the qualities of thinker films in its philosophy and adventure-oriented movies in its linear storytelling that doesn't stray from Hector.Vigalondo, who plays a supporting role as the time machine inventor who seems a bit puny and spineless, ultimately wants to use time travel to unearth the motivations of his main character. How might this scenario drive a person to act in a certain way. When faced with a paradox that threatens our life as we know it and when presented with the opportunity to easily alter our existence, what might we do? Vigalondo takes a stab at answering that question in a remarkably interesting and entertaining film.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

This Spanish psihological thrailer is so awesome,even if it is low budget film its still mine blowing idea.Like every movie it has root frome Rod Serling twilight zone,but the idea is pritty much original.There is a several copy try like TRIANGLE,but still this movie drive you the best. I really injoy watching this,cose Spanish thrillers can be so good.

There are just so many things about this movie that irk me. There's no logic or motivation for most of the way this guy acts. To name just a few: -why does Hector 2 leave the compound and not wait for H1 to go back in time, as he does not realize he is actually the man with the bandages at this point? -why does H2 follow the girl into the house at all? Theoretically if he left her alone, the most she could do is scare Clara. -why does H3 crash into the white car with H2 in it, when this is basically the catalyst that leads to (what he believes is) his wife's death? While I understand that he wants to get rid of H1&2 to take their place, he knows what crashing his car will cause, so should find an alternate way to achieve his goals. And the move doesn't even address the idea that if he were to do something differently to the past Hectors, what would happen? Would he cease to exist, changing all the time-lines? Or would it cause a schism with two parallel time-lines?There are just so many failures in logic. As far as production and theoretical time travel goes, it's not that bad, but when the entire main character seems to be driven by nothing other than it must be done to move the plot along, I just can't give it a good rating. There is simply no logic. And then at the end, throwing the scissors with your prints on them on the ground in the same yard as the girl! It will become obvious that those scissors belonged to the girl in due time, and since her hair was cut just before she fell to her death, it could be used to prove his guilt. Gaahhhhhhh this movie has me so frustrated I just want to scream.

This is the kind of film that would drive my wife and daughter-in-law absolutely nuts. Spanish with English sub-titles, a Jacuzzi with a lid used as a time-machine and a totally incomprehensible plot (up until the last 5 minutes). The acting may have been good but that didn't reveal itself in the English sub-titles so I would ask the opinion of a Spaniard. Special effects were minimal and the biggest wardrobe cost must have been a distressed trench coat and a pink head bandage. As such I think it must have been made with the change left over from a 50 euro note after buying a 'Happy Meal' but, that said, for someone that almost exclusively watches big budget Oscar nominated films, this one I LIKED (in the end).