57 Seconds, your Sunday night movie this weekend, is a unique twist on the time travel genre, following a tech blogger who gains the ability to travel 57 seconds into the past.
Ahead of the movie, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite time travel flicks which may (or may not) have driven us into believing in the improbable.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Jessica Rothe plays Tree, a college student killed by a masked killer on her birthday, only to wake up on the same day to be killed again and again, pinning her in a Groundhog Day-style time loop.
To solve her murder, save her life, and unmask the killer, she repeatedly relives her death. Happy Death Day is a smart blend of horror and humour followed by an equally worthy sequel, Happy Death Day 2U.
Looper (2012)
"Hunted by your future and haunted by your past." Starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper follows a hitman working for a syndicate that illegally uses time travel to kill its enemies. But things gets complicated when Joe finds out he’s on a mission to kill his older self.
More than ten years later, this action-packed flick still packs a smart, thrilling punch. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, who would go on to deliver the brilliant twisty whodunit of Knives Out and the howdunit joy of Poker Face, this film continued Johnson’s partnership with Gordon-Levitt. Since 2005, the latter has appeared (or been heard) in all of Johnson’s feature films.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
After encountering magic dust on her 13th birthday, bullied Jenna Rink (Christa B Allen), makes a wish to be thirty, flirty, and thriving. The next day she wakes up in an apartment in New York City as a 30-year-old fashion magazine editor, played by Jennifer Garner. Slowly, she starts learning that adulthood isn't all it’s cracked up to be.
The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
Inspired by Audrey Niffenegger’s book of the same name, the film follows Clare (Rachel McAdams) who has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) her entire life and believes their love is forever. Sadly, Henry is a time traveller with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life constantly travelling back and forth with no control. Even with this challenge, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her only true love. In 2022, HBO released a series adaptation starring Rose Leslie and Theo James.
What’s your favourite time travel flick?
Catch 57 Seconds this Sunday at 20:00 CAT on M-Net 101 or stream it on DStv Stream. Join the conversation on social media @mnetmovies on X, @MNet on Facebook, @mnettv on Instagram, and @mnet on TikTok.
