Time Cut, a teen sci-fi slasher film that Netflix released in October 2024, is produced and directed by Hannah MacPherson, who wrote it alongside Michael Kennedy. Featuring elements of time travel and classic slasher films, the movie aims to reinvent the horror subgenre. It drew a mixed to negative reception though, divided audiences arguing about how well it was executed.
Plot Overview
The film starts in a high school senior class dance in 2003, where a group of students is stalked by a mysterious who dubs himself the “Sweetly Slasher.” Summer Field, one of the high schoolers, gets lured to a nearby barn where she dies after the party gets smashed up by law enforcement.
Fast forward to 2024 where Summer’s sister Lucy Field carries the trauma of losing her sibling. She finds a bizarre device on the 21st anniversary of her sister’s death near the barn where she perished. The device in question seems to malfunction, resulting in Lucy being sent back to 2003 days before Summer is to be murdered.
In the past, Lucy masquerades as a transfer student and integrates herself into the social life of the high school, forging a connection with her sister and friends, none of whom recognize her true identity. Lucy is set on altering historical events to prevent the murder. Nevertheless, her attempts at past meddling create problems of their own. Attempting to save one life will, in turn, claim another. The timeline starts warping. What’s worse is the chilling possibility of Lucy no longer existing if she does manage to save her sister.
As the masked slasher continues claiming more victims, Lucy solves the mystery of the murderer while untangling a complex web of friendships, backstabbing, hidden truths, and new revelations about her sister’s sexuality that had been concealed in the original timeline.
Characters and Performances
Lucy Field (Madison Bailey): The emotional heart of the tale, Lucy is relentless and a deeply grieved young woman. Madison Bailey gives a devoted performance that roots the film with emotional gravity and tension as she strives to change history.
Summer Field (Antonia Gentry): Lucy’s older sister, who emerges in the 2003 timeline as more than a tragic memory. Antonia Gentry gives her character depth portraying Summer as warm, spirited, but struggling with hidden truths.
Quinn: Summer’s best friend and Lucy’s confidante from the past. She plays an important role in assisting Lucy with the attempts to stop the murders. Their friendship adds dimension to the story.
The Sweetly Slasher: This character is a masked killer who serves more as a plot device than an actual villain. The identity of the slasher is one of the central mysteries of the film, though their motivations and backstory are rather scant.
Core Ideas and Themes
Grief and redemption convoluted around time traveling.
Time Cut revolves around the concept of grief—how a single moment of loss can impact magnificently over several decades. For Lucy, the journey to the past is a venture to heal, restore, provide closure, and answer questions. Her time travel emotional experiences are most visible during the interactions with Summer in which the sisters get to reconnect in ways that would have been impossible in Lucy’s original timeline.
The Butterfly Effect
The consequences of every action taken by Lucy resonate with the butterfly effect. In attempting to save one individual, she subsequently harms another. This notion is thoughtfully described in popular time travel literature where even minor past actions can influence the future in significant ways. This notion adds some tension, albeit, it remains largely unexplored.
Identity and Repression
The figure of identity is also explored in relation to Summer’s repressed sexuality. The revelation that Summer, Lucy’s sister, was secretly going out with another girl is much deeper than a simple plot twist; it provides important context and helps with emotional framing, which is extremely valuable from a societal perspective. However, there will be a section of audience members who feel that these moments could have been better developed.
Direction and Cinematic Style
With the film having a brisk pacing, it runs for a little under ninety-five minutes long. MacPherson makes use of fancier modern cinematography techniques that remove the raw texture of the early 2000s. Flip phones, pop-punk soundtracks, and low-rise jeans are all used to capture the essence of teen culture from that time period.
The tension is inconsistent, and the identity of the killer—who is revealed later in the story—feels anticlimactic because there was no emotional investment in the reveal. The “slasher” scenes are exceedingly tame by any standards of the genre. There is some bloodshed, but the kills are done either off-screen or in a way that is hasty and devoid of suspense and buildup.
Reception
Critics and audiences offered mixed reviews for Time Cut. Some audiences praised the blend of sci-fi with slasher elements alongside the performances of Madison Bailey and Antonia Gentry, while others voiced their criticism about the film being too derivative. In almost every regard, the film seemed like it was caught between being too light on horror to cater to slasher fans and too shallow for time-travel enthusiasts.
The emotional stakes of the film revolving around the characters Lucy and Summer are some of the most powerful moments, but the plot inconsistently undermines the moments, alongside a script rough around the edges that lacks a consistent tone.
Audience members were not shy to note Lucy’s integration into a new school in the past without any records or verification as a glaring plot hole alongside her lack of verification. Additionally, the time-travel device was perceived as overly convenient, detracting from the film’s overall credibility. Many people viewed the climax, blended with action and catharsis, to be a combination of a hurried, boring, and predictable sequence.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Notable performances from the leading actresses, particularly Madison Bailey.
An original premise which fuses two popular genres.
Emotional depth pertaining to sisterly love and redemption arcs.
A recreation of high school life in the early 2000s that evokes nostalgia.
Weaknesses
Lack of suspense and weakaduress the slasher elements.
Incompletely-developed rules and mechanics regarding time travel.
An unsatisfying twist paired with a rushed resolution.
Failures to address identity and grief in depth.
Conclusion
Time Cut is a film with a fascinating premise at its heart and commendable potential, but it! misses the mark on execution. Emotionally impactful family themes of grief and identity are underdeveloped, and the film does not fully embrace either the sci-fi or slasher genres, leading to a sense of blandness and forgetability.
The film may resonate with teenage audiences seeking emotionally grounded thrillers, and it serves well to those who appreciate genre blends. However, those seeking deeper time-travel logic or traditional slasher thrills may walk away disappointed.
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