'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYH/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAv/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAySeA/wD/xAAeEAACAQUAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMABAUREiFCkf/aAAgBAQABPwDJZi0WxztrHj4gpv4GWTQ7VfYU+SgDsEi5UHwOd6H2v//EABcRAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAjH/2gAIAQIBAT8Ahaf/xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABACL/2gAIAQMBAT8AXJf/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This year, Netflix added a time-traveling twist to Halloween with the release of Time Cut - a science fiction slasher film. Directed by Hannah Macpherson, the film was released on Netflix on October 30, 2024.
Time Cut brings an eerie mix of mystery, thriller, and nostalgia, with songs and cultural nods from the 2000s. Starring Madison Bailey as a high school student, she travels back to 2003 to save her sister from getting murdered by a killer called the Sweetly Slasher.
Disclaimer: The article contains major spoilers ahead.
Trending
The plot of the film revolves around three timelines. However, according to an interview with the director by today.com, dated October 31, 2024, the basis of time travel in Time Cut can allude to the concept of multiverse. She explains,
“We don’t outright say that, but I think it’s fun that people who have seen it are excited by that realization. To me, that is thematically important, because the idea is that every choice we make every day creates a new version of ourselves. And this movie is about us controlling who we are in the future.”
What are the multiple timelines in Time Cut?
The story follows Lucy Field (Madison Bailey), a high school student who stumbles upon a time machine on the death anniversary of her older sister, Summer (Antonia Gentry), twenty years after her murder. Through the machine, Lucy is transported from 2024 back to 2003, the same year Summer died. She had been murdered by a masked killer, now known as the 'Sweetly Slasher.'
After some apprehension, Lucy decides she needs to prevent her sister’s murder. As she embarks on a journey to save her sister with the help of Physics genius Quinn (Griffin Gluck), she realizes that altering events in the past can have dangerous consequences for her future.
Original timeline (2003)
In the original timeline of 2003, which is central to the film, Quinn experiences traumatic bullying and heartbreak, leading him to murder Summer and her friends. His unrequited feelings for Summer fill him with bitterness and rage, and an incident of being thrown into the river by his bullies is the nail in the coffin.
In this timeline, Quinn does not act on these feelings until later in life, when he becomes the Sweetly Slasher. He is the inventor of the time machine in the future of this timeline.
Quin uses it to return to the past, commit the murders, and return to the future. This is also the reason for the formation of the alternate timeline where Lucy is born since her parents only had her as a replacement after Summer’s murder.
Future timeline (2024)
This version of the timeline exists because of the murders committed by 'Future Quinn,' or 'Sweetly Slasher,' and is the one where Lucy exists as herself. It intertwines with the past when she discovers Future Quinn’s plan and intervenes to prevent further killings.
Alternate timeline (Revised 2003)
By the film’s end, Lucy’s actions save Quinn from descending into darkness by saving him from the bullying. Saving Quinn alters the events in the past, ending his eventual murderous spree.
Lucy changes the future and saves her sister. However, Summer lives at the cost of her future existence. Lucy eventually decides to return and stay in 2003 with Quinn and Summer since her existence disappears in 2024.
What is the result of intertwining timelines in Time Cut’s climax?
In the climax of Time Cut, the intertwining of timelines results in multiple paradoxes. Lucy faces off against Future Quinn, who has returned to 2003 to commit the murders. She follows him back to 2024 as he escapes and kills him there.
This paradox, however, leaves Lucy in a changed 2024, where she was never born due to Summer’s survival. After that, she visits her home only to realize she does not exist in this future timeline.
Lucy’s intervention also sets off a chain reaction that ultimately prevents Quinn from becoming the killer. As Quinn resolves that he will not become the Sweetly Slasher in the future, an alternate 2003 timeline emerges where the murders are averted.
The merging of timelines in Time Cut relies heavily on the concept of a multiverse, showing how small changes can alter the outcome of any incident. With the interplay of timelines and the use of the butterfly effect to explain the plot, Netflix hopes to keep the fans of sci-fi thrillers hooked to their seats with Time Cut.
Time Cut is now available on Netflix.
