HE KNOWS ME, HE KNOWS ME NOT // A FILM REVIEW OF “TIMESTALKER”
BY MATEO MORENO
At times like these, when there’s a million options just a streaming channel away, it really helps to step out of the pack. Alice Lowe’s writing and directorial voice is certainly original and her debut feature film Prevenge told the twisted and original story of an unborn serial killer. Now her eagerly awaited second film had hit, the delirious and winning TIMESTALKER. Lowe plays a woman stuck in time. Or stuck going through time. She begins her story in 1688 and she plays Alice, a woman who is witnessing the public execution of a preacher named Alex (Jacob Anderson) for the crime of heresy. She is instantly attracted to him and vows to save him. Only she dies while doing so. Cut to 1793 where she is now reborn as the wife of royalty, but not one you’d write home about. Her husband is George (Nick Frost) and he’s a twisted creep who takes pleasure in humiliation and having completely control over her. Her servant Meg (Tanya Reynolds) is in love with her but alas, she is obsessed with her man from the past Alex. She dies yet again, only to be reborn and reborn, finally landing in the 1980’s where Alex is now a New Romantic rock star. Will these two star crossed lovers ever make it work, when half the fun of it is watching it not work out?
TIMESTALKER takes its time, especially in the 1793 and 1980 sections and builds up the storyline carefully and slowly. But in the capable and hilarious hands of Lowe, it all works out like a wild, Python-esque fever dream (only a minor gripe is the 1793 section is a bit long). Though she’s careful to lay clues and seeds to swallow as we go, she never hits us over the head with it. Instead, she lets us figure it all out in our own time and once we’re in the 80’s, the puzzle all starts to come together nicely. Lowe directs the proceedings with a firm and strong hand and has a definite eye for some glorious visuals. Her writing is smart and clever and has much to say about what it means to be a woman in multiple centuries. As an actor, she’s simply a goofy, madcap delight and as her chasing starts to cross over into stalking, her character grows more and more interesting. It’s also notable that her servant Meg doesn’t disappear and she continues on with Alice, turning this twisted stalker romance into a bit of a love triangle. Many films may throw in a joke about someone having queer feelings for a character as a one-off joke, but Lowe makes it an actual plotline and the film is all the better for it. Jacob Anderson doesn’t have nearly as much to do as Lowe until the 1980’s, which is his characters time to shine, but in each period he’s very funny and winning. Tanya Reynolds and Nick Frost also both do great work here and Lowe’s mix of physical comedy, Python-like weirdness and time-hopping sci-fi might spell a recipe for disaster in less capable hands. Luckily, we’re in Lowe’s weird, fractured world, and it’s a goofy, hilarious and glorious one. I won’t spoil it, but man do I love how it all ends.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Alice Lowe STARRING Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson, Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds, Nick Frost. NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES AND ON DEMAND.