Predestination
written and directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig
Here’s the problem: Heinlein’s story “—All You Zombies—” was the last word on one specific kind of time travel story: The story is which there is but one timeline. If you travel to the past and do something, it is because you traveled to the past and did that thing. But the Spierig brothers completely missed this point by introducing an older version of the Unmarried Mother who has newspaper clippings of other timelines that he has changed. The nice closed sexual loop is still present in the movie, but that wasn’t enough to stop my disappointment at the drubbing that the central story idea took. I wasn’t so hot on the music either (except for “I’m My Own Grandpa”), but the relationship between the Barkeep and the Unmarried Mother was spot on as was the depiction of time travel and the foreshadowing.
Barkeep: Yes, you can.
U.M.: Have you ever thought about changing yours?
BK: I never deviate from the mission.
U.M.: Never?
BK: Never. . . . Look, I’ll pick you up when you’re done, all right?
U.M.: No, whoa, where are you going?
BK: Don’t worry. I’ll be around, trust me.
U.M.: Do I? . . . Do I have a choice?
BK: Of course. You always have a choice.