Sunday, August 13, 2017

'Fate' VOD: Love's Labour Lost in Time


Indie flick company Self-Destruct Films proves that intelligent life exists on the small screen regarding the August 15, 2017 VOD release of the scifi drama  "Fate." This movie is notable both for making time travel seem possible and for explaining the underlying science in a manner that a person of average intelligence can understand it.

Grad student Connor Hughes, who can be considered the 21st century version of physics whiz kid Quinn Mallory of the '90s scifi series "Sliders," seemingly has a good life at the beginning of "Fate." He is engaged to beautiful and caring elementary school teacher April, lives in a townhouse that is much nicer than the homes that most of us inhabit in our 20s, and is on the verge of inventing a safe means of time travel.

The only rift in Conril is that April is increasingly jealous regarding Connor having Lady Science as a mistress. April subsequently having cause to believe that she has a flesh-and-blood rival triggers tragic events just as Connor has a milestone Eureka moment.

The several quantum leaps that Connor makes to try to put right what once went wrong propel the subsequent action. One spoiler is that our hero not falling in the trap of not learning from history does not spare him from repeating it. This pattern provides the basis for the title of "Fate" in that it seems that it is the destiny of April to have her life take the same course regardless of any efforts to change it.

"Fate" further has the standard element of the menacing feds. In this case, it is a group whose oversight of the research includes determining whether to keep grant money flowing.

The other twist is that an increasingly relevant limit on the ability to go back in time exerts additional pressure on Connor to succeed each time that he tries to save April. This leads to an awesome approach that creates drama and suspense to the final minutes of the movie. A related note is that the truly surprising conclusion is not revealed until the end of the closing credits.

The art of the film is combining the elements of time-travel movies in a new and entertaining manner. The butterfly effect plays a large role; we also get the effort to save a soulmate and the related angst regarding having to decide when to effectively pull the plug.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Fate" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvguy.



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