Notice! This post contains spoilers for Netflix’s Time Cut.
Surprisingly, a new time travel horror movie on Netflix addresses one of the first one’s most crucial details Back to the future film. However, despite criticizing Back to the futureIn its portrayal of time travel, the Netflix film repeats the same mistake. Although almost 4 decades have passed since the first Back to the future Upon the film’s release, the film is considered one of the most entertaining versions of time travel and remains an inspiration for many modern science fiction films.
In many ways, a new Netflix time travel film also takes inspiration from Back to the future and takes viewers through a coming-of-age drama that unfolds across two interconnected timelines. Even after apparently being inspired by Marty McFly’s adventures in Back to the future films, the Netflix film dares to criticize a scene from Robert Zemeckis’ film. While it’s understandable where the criticism is coming from, Netflix’s horror film ends up falling into the same trap as Back to the Future.
Time cut takes a hit on fading scene of future photo
Netflix film suggests Back to the Future oversimplifies time travel
In a scene from Netflix Time cuta character tries to explain the butterfly effect to a time traveler who has traveled from the future to the past. The character quotes Back to the futureThe photo fade scene as an example, where Marty begins to disappear from the photo of him and his brothers as his mother falls in love with him in the past instead of his father. According to the Time cut character, Back to the futurethe portrayal of the rippling impact of one’s actions over time has been oversimplified.
Highlighting how changing the past can have a devastating impact on the future and even trigger something as extreme as World War III, the character implies that they will end up changing much more than just a few photographs if they try to alter the past. Given as Back to the futureAlthough the portrayal of the butterfly effect is not as intense as it should be, the criticism makes sense to a certain extent. However, it also seems Time cut undermines the true meaning behind the Back to the future photo fading scene.
The back to the future photo fade is deeper than the time cut allows
Represents the slow decay of Marty’s future
Time cut tries to minimize the importance of Back to the future scene, but it goes much deeper than the Netflix film lets on. By showing how Marty gradually disappears from the scene with his brothers, the film perfectly captures the relative likelihood of his own existence in the future. The scene highlights the fragility of time and identityshowing how Marty’s existence is not as set in stone as he thinks. Instead, your future is tied to a complex web of past choices and relationships, and any changes to these have a significant impact on the likelihood of your very existence.
Despite criticism, time cut avoids exploring the butterfly effect
Time Slicing never explores the rippling consequences of someone’s actions over time
Even after criticizing Back to the futurethe “simplified” approach to time travel and the butterfly effect, Time cut it doesn’t escape the same narrative traps it tries to protest against. The main character, Lucy, in Time cuttravels through time and saves people from a cruel serial killer. Unlike Marty, who only tries to save his parents’ marriage, Lucy alters the course of history by ensuring that her sister, who is supposed to be dead in the future timeline, survives her encounter with a serial killer in the past.
Film |
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
Rotten Tomatoes audience score |
Back to the future |
93% |
95% |
Time cut |
19% |
34% |
According to the movie’s logic, Lucy’s decision to save her sister should have resulted in some of the most drastic and chaotic changes to the timeline. Still, in Time cutIn the final moments, when she returns to the year she traveled from, she only notices minor, easily explainable changes in the world around her. Due to its family story and limited runtime, Time cut would not have been able to explore the depths and complexities of time travel. However, it seems unfair that I subtly attack Back to the future when it ultimately offers a similar oversimplification.