About Time

Type: Movie

Score: 8/10

Date modified: Oct 1, 2026

An issue I often feel when watching films is that there writing feels impersonal, like you can absolutely tell it’s written by a group of people because no human could would ever say the things the characters say. That’s why I enjoyed Pulp Fiction so much, because as over the top as it was I could absolutely see the stuff these guys say as being part of a conversation my mates and I have. Despite this there was still a certain disconnect as most films have, strong cinematic shots that clearly took a lot of thought and look fantastic. That said About Time rarely has these kinds of shots, the camera is often shaky and the dialogue written with a believable sincerity which makes many moments feel just as believable as they are excruciatingly awkward to watch play out. In the token meeting a parents scene when Tim says “Yeah, but no oral sex, I promise you” I literally covered my own mouth out of shock or surprise or something similar and I’m not too sure what that says but it definitely says something. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a film suffer from these features but this film might come close. I liked this film though, whether it was because of this or in spite of it. I thought it was often really sweet, really funny and it felt oddly real. What helps is the time travel plot-point, practically the namesake of the movie being as subtle as it was felt like a breath of fresh air. They didn’t really feel the need to dissect it and they didn’t need to either and it just worked. I know I’m praising them for doing less work but that’s where we’re at with these kinds of storylines, and as it was more a judge of character growth if anything it definitely wouldn’t have been appreciated work. This all said I think the second half of the movie takes a bit of a tumble for me, mainly writing-wise, it’s not awful but it just feels less punchy. It’s a teensy bit upsetting, mainly because of how brilliant a first half they had going. The last two scenes with his dad was really sweet though, especially the final one, made me tear up a little.