I'M COMING HOME // A FILM REVIEW OF "THE TIME CAPSULE"
In THE TIME CAPSULE, Jack Lambert (Erwann Marshall) is a politician in the not-so-distant future. Far enough away that screens appear as holograms but not so far away that cars or clothes look much different. He's coming off a failed election bid, one that he lost in large part to him accidentally saying "Fuck Yeah" in front of children on national TV. To try and move past it, he and his wife Maggie (KaDee Struckland) take a trip, a trip to Jack's old family house in the woods for the first time in 20 years. The charm of the cabin in the woods immediately springs back out at Jack, and he remembers fondly of his history there. Part of that history is his friend Patrice (Baron Vaughn) who he hasn't seen in a decade. Patrice has agreed to help fix up the house and is thrilled to catch back up with his old friend Jack. But he's not the only bit of history coming out of the woodwork.
While in a local store, Jack runs into his old girlfriend Elise (Brianna Hildebrand). He's stunned because she looks exactly the same as she did 20 years ago. And the reason being is that Elise and her father (Nelson Bonilla) were part of a colonization mission into space. Jack was heartbroken when she left and though he'd never see her. Now she's returned and only a couple months in her time has passed, yet 20 years on earth went by. Jack and Maggie invite Elise and her father over for dinner, at Maggie's request. She claims to be fascinated by her going to space and returning. Yet the dinner turns out just as awkward as you might expect, with Elise getting degrading comments of the, "You'll see when you're older" variety. But it's clear that Elise is still in love with Jack. After all, no time has passed for her. For Jack, things are decidedly more complicated and the solid grey areas of this notion are explored with a strong but delicate hand.
The cast are all quite strong and though the ending does stumble a bit on its way to the goal, it's a very interesting journey to get there. The storytelling is quiet and reserved, it's a sci-fi movie for adult romantics. Todd Grinnell, Brianna Hildebrand and KaDee Strickland have a great trio energy and the chemistry between Grinnell and Hildebrand is sweet an charming. The writers only drop the ball a couple times. Maggie is largely empathetic and relatable. But there's a few sharp dagger lines that seem a bit off character to where her journey ends up going, almost as if a version of the film originally had her as the villain of the story (I'm very glad they didn't go that direction). And though Jack's story is told in strong detail, the same can't be fully said for Elise, who is the most interesting character in the lot. Moving the story to her point of view would have benefited the film, or at least include some of the interesting details we only hear about. Overall though, THE TIME CAPSULE is a sweet, strange and joyful, holding quite a bit of magic close to its heart.
GRADE: B
WRITTEN BY Chad Fifer, Erwann Marshall DIRECTED BY Erwann Marshall STARRING Todd Grinnell, Brianna Hildebrand, KaDee Strickland, Baron Vaughn, Ravi Patel, Nelson Bonilla. STREAMING ON DEMAND FRIDAY JUNE 3rd. FOR MORE INFO: THE TIME CAPSULE