Midlands Review of A Change in Time
midlandsmovies • October 11, 2021
A Change in Time
Directed by Pat Knight
2021
Green Cat Films
A partially literal interpretation of the grandfather paradox is one of the major themes of new sci-fi drama A Change in Time by Midlands director Pat Knight.
The year is 2069 and at the Central Institute of Historical and Scientific Studies the audience are made of aware of an unknown technological breakthrough.
But before we can get any more info, we are whipped back to the present day and introduced to a young man (David Knight as Sam). After accidentally bumping into someone at the park, his happy demeanour is soon changed as he is bundled into a tinted window 4x4 by a couple of shady-suited Women in Black.
Held against his will in an office, Sam is subsequently interviewed by Agent Miller and is told he “no longer exists”. This is owing to a complex change in timelines resulting in “aberrations” like Sam.
The agent continues by saying a letter that meant his grandfather and grandmother didn’t get together was re-sent into the past creating a family tree that results in Sam’s non-existence.
Filmed (and set) in my hometown of Leicester, it’s great to see the city, university and surrounding locations put to good use to keep the film visually interesting. And the film is well-shot by Will J Carman and the timely editing by Ollie Tristram keeps the narrative pushing forward with its plot mysteries clearly set up to aid understanding.
A fair amount of background information is dropped into the exposition interview which helps explain the twisty set-up but also mostly gets it out the way early on. The first-half does verge on Inception-levels of dialogue at times - where each scene requires an explanation of the narrative machinations.
However, the story very quickly moves forward apace with Sam and his family hoping for a way out even though they are told they need to be erased from existence – along with many others.
As they are about to be wiped out in the facility, Sam and his sister Eliza (Holly Hurn) manage to take one of the time-travelling devices and hop back into the past. In 1940, they come across other time-travelling agents who are altering the letter that started all of this.
But unfortunately, their handheld time-machine is out of power and they are stuck in the past. And with that and the presence of a young man, a senior (excuse me) time-travelling relative and some electric-blue time-travel lightning at the end, there’s more than a nod to the legendary Back to the Future franchise.
It has plenty of other nods to sci-fi flicks (a bit of Primer here, a dash of Men In Black there) but a couple of original ideas could have helped differ the balance between “homage” and “inspired by”.
That said, there’s an assured handling of all the aspects that never sees the film dip in quality or structure throughout. A few choice special effects by Mike Choo are very well done as well, making the history-leaping all the more fun.
A Change in Time may not be the most original short but it’s another success following Knight’s previous time-related film Archway 0173. Clocking in at 15 minutes, I’d recommend giving this playful film some of your time in future as the director adds another accomplished dimension to her film-making repertoire.
Michael Sales
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