In Time

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
For other uses, see In time (disambiguation).

In Time
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Niccol
Written byAndrew Niccol
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byZach Staenberg
Music byCraig Armstrong
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
Running time
109 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[4]
Box office$174 million[5]

In Time is a 2011 American science fiction action film written, co-produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star as inhabitants of a society that uses time from one's lifespan as its primary currency, with each individual possessing a clock on their arm that counts down how long they have to live. Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde, Matt Bomer, Johnny Galecki, and Alex Pettyfer also star. The film was released on October 28, 2011, and grossed $174 million against a $40 million budget. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the premise while criticizing its execution.[6][7]

Plot

[edit]

In 2169, people are genetically engineered to stop aging on their 25th birthday, when a one-year countdown on their forearm begins. When it reaches zero, the person "times out" and dies instantly. Time has thus become the universal currency, transferred directly between people or stored in "time capsules". Several major areas called Time Zones exist; Dayton is the poorest, a manufacturing "ghetto" where people rarely have over 24 hours on their clocks, whereas in New Greenwich, the richest Zone, people have enough time to be essentially immortal.

Will Salas, a 28-year-old Dayton factory worker, lives with his 50-year-old mother Rachel. One night, he rescues a drunken 105-year-old man named Henry Hamilton from 75-year-old Fortis and his Minutemen, a group of time-robbing thugs. In a secret location, Hamilton, who has 116 years on his clock, reveals to Will that the people of New Greenwich hoard most of the time, while constantly increasing prices to impoverish people in less prosperous districts. The next morning, he transfers all but 5 minutes of his time to a sleeping Will, then times out before Will can stop him, falling off a bridge. Raymond Leon, the 75-year-old leader of a unit of police-like Timekeepers, erroneously assumes Will robbed and killed Hamilton.

Heeding his friend Borel's warning against possessing excess time in Dayton, Will donates 10 years (the length of their friendship) to him before departing, planning to relocate to New Greenwich with Rachel. However, that night, Rachel suddenly finds herself with insufficient bus fare to return to Dayton, having exhausted her earnings from 2 days' work in the Garment District to liquidate a 2-day loan. The uncaring driver forces her to run, but she arrives a few seconds too late for Will to rescue her and times out at the last moment in his arms, devastating him. The next morning, he furiously decides to avenge her passing by visiting New Greenwich, internalizing Hamilton's words regarding the inequity of the time system.

Arriving in New Greenwich, Will meets 110-year-old time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis and his 27-year-old daughter Sylvia at a casino. While playing poker, Will nearly times out but eventually wins over a millennium in a flawless gamble. Sylvia invites him to a party, and Will commutes there by purchasing a new sports car. Raymond arrives and apprehends Will, who insists his innocence in Hamilton's death. Rather than attempting to prove Will's guilt, he simply confiscates all but 2 hours of Will's time, explaining it does not belong in Dayton.

Fortis' gang ambushes Will and Sylvia, who have escaped back to Dayton with him taking her hostage, leaving them with 30 minutes each. Will visits Borel's residence to retrieve some spare time, but his wife Greta answers, tearfully explaining that he has drunk himself to death. After the two obtain a day each by pawning Sylvia's diamond earrings, Will calls Philippe to request a 1,000-year ransom to be paid into the time-mission for the desperate, releasing Sylvia when he declines. Raymond encounters Will, but when Sylvia accidentally shoots him in the shoulder, Will transfers 2 hours to Raymond, allowing him to survive long enough for his squad to retrieve him, and purloins his car.

Now committed to crashing the system, Will and Sylvia rob Philippe's time banks, donating the extra capsules to the destitute, but soon realize that prices are simply increased to compensate for the extra time. Fortis' gang ambushes them, but Will successfully times out Fortis in an arm wrestling match by using his deceased father's technique and kills his Minutemen. He and Sylvia then decide to rob Philippe's vault of a 1,000,000-year capsule. Raymond pursues them to Dayton, where he was born and raised but eventually escaped from, but fails to stop them from distributing the stolen time. Having neglected to collect his per diem, he times out. Will and Sylvia nearly time out themselves, but survive by taking Raymond's salary.

Television reports show factories in Dayton shutting down as everyone abandons their jobs due to possessing sufficient time to sustain themselves. Having witnessed the consequences of Raymond's obsession with the pair, his colleague Jaeger orders the Timekeepers to return home. Will and Sylvia progress to larger banks, still attempting to level the system.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Before the film was titled In Time, the names Now and I'm.mortal were used.[8] On July 12, 2010, it was reported that Amanda Seyfried had been offered a lead role.[9] On July 27, 2010, it was confirmed that Justin Timberlake had been offered a lead role.[10] On August 9, 2010, Cillian Murphy was confirmed to have joined the cast.[11]

The first photos from the set were revealed on October 28, 2010.[12] 20th Century Fox and New Regency distributed the film, and Marc Abraham and Eric Newman's Strike Entertainment produced it.[13]

In an interview with Kristopher Tapley of In Contention, Roger Deakins stated that he would be shooting the film in digital, which makes this the first film to be shot in digital by the veteran cinematographer.[14]

The Dayton scenes were filmed primarily in the Skid Row and Boyle Heights neighborhoods of Los Angeles, while the New Greenwich scenes were filmed primarily in Century City, Bel Air, and Malibu. Although the names of the ghetto-like zone and wealthy enclave reflect Dayton and Greenwich, respectively, the maps used by the Timekeepers are maps of Los Angeles.

For the retrofuturistic setting, the production's vehicle suppliers assembled a fleet of cars and trucks from used car lots and junkyards. Although an old Citroën DS 21 and Cadillac Seville feature, center stage goes to a fleet of seemingly immaculate Dodge Challengers and Lincoln Continentals. The rich drive around in the high gloss Lincolns, all of which have been smoothed, lowered and fitted with oversized disc wheels on low profile rubber. The Dodges are the Time Keeper's cop cars. These too have been smoothed and externally customized, with grilles front and rear covering the lights, and low profile tires on disc wheels. In stark contrast to the Lincolns, paintwork is matte black. A slim police light-bar is fitted internally, behind the windshield.

The use of retrofuturism is one of many elements that the film shares with Niccol's earlier work, Gattaca; Niccol himself referred to it as "the bastard child of Gattaca".[15] That film also features electrically powered vintage cars (notably a Rover P6 and again, a Citroën DS), as well as buildings of indeterminate age. Gattaca also deals with innate inequalities (though in its case genetic, rather than longevity) and also features a character seeking to cross the divide that his birthright is supposed to deny him. Similarly, he is pursued by law enforcement officers after being wrongly identified as having committed a murder.

[edit]

On September 15, 2011, a lawsuit was filed against the film by attorneys acting on behalf of Harlan Ellison, author of "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". The suit, naming New Regency, director Andrew Niccol and a number of anonymous John Does, appears to base its claim on the similarity that both the completed film and Ellison's story concern a dystopian future in which people have a set amount of time to live which can be revoked, given certain pertaining circumstances by a recognized authority known as a Timekeeper. Initially, the suit demanded an injunction against the film's release;[16] however, Ellison later altered his suit to instead ask for screen credit[17] before ultimately dropping the suit, with both sides releasing the following joint statement: "After seeing the film In Time, Harlan Ellison decided to voluntarily dismiss the Action. No payment or screen credit was promised or given to Harlan Ellison. The parties wish each other well, and have no further comment on the matter."[18]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 36% of 173 critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 5.30/10. The website's consensus reads, "In Time's intriguing premise and appealing cast are easily overpowered by the blunt, heavy-handed storytelling."[6] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 53 based on 36 reviews.[7] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B-minus" on an A+ to F scale.[19] Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review with 3 stars out of 4, noting that the "premise is damnably intriguing", but "a great deal of this film has been assembled from standard elements".[20] Henry Barnes noted that Will is "one of the 99%" and calls the character "a Rolex Robin Hood".[21]

The Atlantic's Noah Berlatsky argued that the film depicted inequality as "sexy" in its portrayal of a romance between a lower-class and upper-class character, and describing the characters' bank robberies as the "hoariest of get-rich schemes" that operates within the capitalist system rather than dismantling it.[22] Writing for Time magazine, Richard Corliss praised the premise but criticized Niccol's direction of the cast, writing that his "imagination is vigorously literary but not thrillingly cinematic", describing the film's second half as devolving into poorly executed action sequences.[23] Manohla Dargis gave the film a mixed review, comparing the story to the works of Philip K. Dick, as well as Niccol's earlier film Gattaca with the inclusion of the "master-slave dialectic" between the rich and the poor, like that of the genetically perfect and imperfect in his earlier work. Dargis also noted the appearance of Holocaust imagery, in which the poor remain lying where they die.[24]

Box office

[edit]

In Time grossed $12 million on its opening weekend, debuting at number three behind Puss in Boots, and Paranormal Activity 3. The film declined later on during its 14 weekend box office run. The film eventually grossed over $37.5 million in the US and $136.4 million internationally for a worldwide total of $173.9 million.[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "In Time (2011)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Ng, Philiana (October 20, 2010). "'In Time' Premiere Red Carpet Arrivals: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "IN TIME (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. October 11, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Amy (October 27, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Puss in Boots' to stomp on competition". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "In Time". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "In Time (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 14, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "In Time Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  8. ^ Rich, Katey (November 1, 2010). "I'm.mortal Retitled Now, Adds Alex Pettyfer And Matt Bomer To Cast". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  9. ^ Gallagher, Brian (July 12, 2010). "Amanda Seyfried Signs on to I'm.mortal". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  10. ^ Douglas, Edward (July 27, 2012). "Justin Timberlake Leading I'm.mortal?". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  11. ^ Gallagher, Brian (August 9, 2010). "Cillian Murphy to Star in I'm.mortal". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  12. ^ "Timberlake and Seyfried Spotted Filming Their New Thriller". ComingSoon.net. October 28, 2010. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  13. ^ Sneider, Jeff (August 9, 2010). "Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy in Talks to Join 'I'm.mortal". TheWrap. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  14. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (December 22, 2010). "TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: 'True Grit' cinematographer Roger Deakins". In Contention. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  15. ^ Capps, Robert (October 6, 2011). "Director Calls In Time 'Bastard Child of Gattaca'". Wired. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  16. ^ Gardner, Eriq (September 15, 2011). "Harlan Ellison Sues Claiming Fox's 'In Time' Rips Off Sci-Fi Story (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  17. ^ Moore, Roger (August 26, 2014). "Ellison wants 'In Time' concessions — only asks for credit?". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  18. ^ O'Neill, Brian (December 1, 2011). "Ellison drops lawsuit after watching In Time". Sci-Fi Storm. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  19. ^ Finke, Nikki (October 30, 2011). "Snow Ices Box Office: 'Puss In Boots' #1, 'Paranormal' #2, 'In Time' #3, 'Rum Diary' #4". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  20. ^ Ebert, Roger. "In Time". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  21. ^ Barnes, Henry (November 4, 2011). "In Time – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  22. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (October 28, 2011). "'In Time': A Hollywood Get-Rich-Quick Tale Disguised as Capitalist Critique". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 29, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  23. ^ Corliss, Richard (October 27, 2011). "In Time: Justin Timberlake Tries to Beat the Clock". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  24. ^ Dargis, Manohla (October 27, 2011). "Die Young, Stay Pretty, and Watch Your Clock". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to In Time.