Movie Review : Timer

This film’s story is inspired by the perennial question : Is there one person who’s meant to be your soulmate ? And what if you could predict the exact moment that you meet him/her ? In the future, apparently you can; all you have to do is install a little timer on your wrist. Keep in mind that it does cost, and installation does hurt, but once installed, the timer initializes and counts down to the day you will meet The One.

Sound tantalizing ? Well, there is a downside – your timer might never start counting down at all, because the SoulMate hasn’t had his/hers installed yet. This is precisely our heroine’s Oona’s (Emma Caulfield) plight. Beautiful Oona is smart, intelligent and an orthodontist to boot. However all she can hear is the ticking. Of her biological clock that is. A diehard romantic, Oona is turning 30 and her timer hasn’t even initialized yet. Undeterred she gets potentially promising dates to install timers on their wrists, in the hope that she will soon be able to spot The One.

In her search for true love, Oona is supported by smart-talking step-sister Steph (Michelle Borth), who’s Timer predicts true love blossoming in about 15 years or so. When however Oona meets a guy who could be the one (and he doesn’t believe in the whole Timer theory), she must think hard about what it means to find true love, and if love can indeed be predicted using another tool – her heart.

This was a sweet film, with a well-told story and great characterization. The sci-fi-ish, future-ish angle was a bonus. Although the future portrayed in this film doesn’t seem that far off; it is quite like the present day, except for the Invention of the Timer, and of professions like the MatchMaker, who seemed Ministerial like beings ordained with the tasks of Timer installation, as a coming-of-age ceremony.

P.S. : This film is available via Netfix Streaming – that’s how I saw it.