Title: Fate (2017)
Director: Dan Sheldon
Runtime: 95 minutes
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“After the government shuts down his project on time travel, a brilliant quantum physicist must find a way to continue his research in order to travel back in time and prevent his fiancé from being killed.”
If this films plot sounds familiar it’s probably because it is basic “Time Travel Plot Outline 101”. Sadly, this heading would pretty much sum up the entire film. Don’t get me wrong, though, Fate is a fully fleshed out film that is perfectly watchable.
Writer and director Dan Sheldon is able to create scenes and situations that work well. He has a solid eye for his vision, and it comes to life on the screen like one would expect from a multi-hat wearer like Sheldon is here. The problem really isn’t that the plot is predictable, or even that it’s similar to other time travel films, but rather the fact that Fate never once goes out of its way to make itself stand out or feel different from countless other movies. Instead, Fate actually feels like a remake of something that has never existed, which is odd. Plus, the film’s final act becomes laughable when it shouldn’t because the solution is so obvious that it’s just silly the main character doesn’t see it quicker than he does.
Daniel Bonjour and Anne Clare Lush have just enough chemistry for me to buy into their relationship and the struggle that Connor goes through to try to save April from her horrible fate. Sadly, the acting is a bit wooden at times, and the film moves slowly, so we spend a lot of time with this small cast of characters.
Fate is a competently made film. It hits every note you expect a film about time travel to hit, and that’s ultimately its biggest flaw. It never tries to be anything more than the same ol’ song and dance of countless time travel films before it. If you’re bored and you’ve already seen the other time travel films released this year, then give Fate a watch, just don’t expect anything revolutionary from it. Fate is currently available to stream for free on Amazon Instant Video with your Amazon Prime membership. If you’re not a Prime member, it’s available for rent at the link below.
Fate (2017) released August 15th, 2017 on Digital HD, including Amazon Prime, Google Play and Vimeo on Demand. Cinefessions was provided a digital copy of Fate for review purposes by Self Destruct Films.
Chris was raised on horror films, which gave him a deep love for the genre, especially its most quirky and offbeat titles (like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). This love quickly turned into an obsession for cinema in 1997, when he decided he needed to see every major theatrical release. Video games (JRPGs), reading (anything but fantasy), and reality television (Survivor) are just some of his other passions. He’s been with Cinefessions since 2013, and has been writing reviews all over the internet for the past twelve years.
