Los Cronocrímenes (Timecrimes) (2007)

Let's do this: Nacho Vigalondo's Los Cronocrímenes starts out as a slasher film until suddenly it turns out to be all about time travel! Wowee! Hector (Karra Elejalde) and his wife Clara (Candela Fernandez) have just moved into their new home, a large semi-secluded house in a woody area of Spain. While Clara is out shopping, Hector makes good use of his binoculars in a sweep around the forest surrounding his backyard. He glimpses a beautiful young woman undressing and wanders around in the forest trying to find her, only to be attacked by a man with a bandaged head and black coat. He flees and breaks into a large laboratory complex, finding a walkie talkie with which to communicate with the one person working there.

He makes it to the small isolated lab where the other man, a young scientist (Nacho Vigalondo), has barricaded himself. He persuades Hector to hide from the assailant in a circular vat of goo, locking him inside. When the lid opens, Hector discovers that he has been sent back in time a few hours to around the time the movie started. He is confused, frightened, and understandably angry at the scientist for secretly experimenting on him. He returns to the woods and slowly comes to the realization that everything that had happened to him earlier was by his own doing. Now he must make sure the same chain of events occurs, for fear of his past self never getting into the time machine, resulting in multiple Hectors.

This was a very well-thought-out, surprisingly simple time travel tale. It took one event and examined the possibilities if time travel were added to the mix. Vigalondo didn't try to overcomplicate it with multiple storylines or interconnected characters or splashy special effects or sciencey explanations. The film is very straightforward and respects its audience's intelligence, which I appreciated. It did have some holes, though, like most time travel-related stories. The main issue my cohort had was that there was no "original" Hector. He gets into the time machine because his future self went into the past to make sure he got into the time machine in the first place. (Did that make sense?) This didn't particularly bother me, but I can see how in certain views it is a problem.

The biggest issue I had with Los Cronocrimenes was its protagonist. I found Hector annoying and unlikeable, and didn't feel much need to root for him. He was unexpectedly violent and unreasonable. His hatred for his past self was an interesting development, but mostly seemed dumb. He was repulsed to see his past self kissing his wife, as if she was with another man, but it was just him. It's something I've never thought about before, I suppose. If his character had been written a bit differently I think I would have been more engrossed, more involved in the fate of hero. The fact that he became so beat up throughout the movie also really grossed me out, as I am quite squeamish. Otherwise I really enjoyed this film: a solid and straightforward sci-fi tale that takes a fairly simple premise and twists it into a fascinating story.

Also I guess there's already an American remake being planned. For some reason. Whatever, I'll still see it.

4/5