Things Will Be Different

Going in to movies blind has kind of been my thing lately. I’ve found that I get much more enjoyment from films when I don’t watch lengthy, revealing trailers or read too much about them before diving in. Such is the case with my latest watch, Things Will Be Different.

To set the stage, the film centers around problematic siblings Sid and Joe, who, unfortunately, need to escape the law after their latest heist. Joe, who seems to have quite the criminal clientele, presents his sister with their chance at escaping jail time and keeping their stolen money: a time traveling closet in a weird farm house.

That’s the basic plot and while more often than not time travel isn’t done well, I’ll have to say that in the case of this film, I sincerely enjoyed it. The tropes are there, sure, but the acting was fantastic. Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy are more than capable of carrying a film and their on-screen chemistry as estranged siblings felt real, strained, and emotional all at once. The ambience, set, and soundtrack throughout was balanced and isolating, both pulling you in and forcing you out simultaneously.

With that being said, Things Will Be Different is not without its flaws. Things don’t really kick off after the set up until we get almost an hour in. I really would have preferred that this be a short film, maybe capping out at about 45 minutes to an hour tops. Had it been featured in a series or an anthology, this would have been a 10/10 for me, but there’s just far too much unnecessary run time that does nothing to push the plot along. If anything, the long, drawn-out sequences where nothing happens takes so much away. I get wanting to showcase your ability as a filmmaker with dramatic shots and closeups on pensive faces, but this just wasn’t the film for that.

Despite its downsides, the movie still managed to win me over. The final act was full of the action that the rest of the film lacked and really went full throttle. I enjoyed the ending immensely and found myself reflecting on quite a few different themes other than the obvious time travel and family issues plots. I found a lot of subtle points toward the stages of grief and also substance abuse/mental health themes which reminded me a lot of a movie I love called Resolution from over a decade ago.

Imagine now, for me, if you will, the sound of a record scratching and all sound being sucked from the room. This was my exact response when I looked up the stats on the film and found out that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead were executive producers of this film. No wonder I enjoyed it so much. (If you haven’t seen Resolution or The Endless, I highly recommend both.)

All in all, Things Will Be Different is just as the title states: there’s always that desire for change, but also the struggle to ever take meaningful action. While the plot often struggles, everything else makes up for it, and you find yourself at the end agreeing that, yes, things can be different. You can interpret that how you wish, just do yourself a favor and don’t sleep on this just because it’s slow out the gate.

I received a copy of this film in exchange for honest review.