Holy shit, this is my kind of film.
I stumbled across this flick on Tubi the other day, and it caught my eye. Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox is a 2024 film written and directed by Stimson Snead, and apparently based upon a short film also by Snead released in 2022, which I have not seen. Snead’s other credits include shorts “Rise of the Kitchen Appliances” (2014), “Spirit: A Martian Story” (2019) and “Lab Rats” (2024).
The time traveler’s paradox is a well-known thought experiment that takes on a variety of forms. As it is presented here, imagine a time traveler travels backward in time one minute, then shoots and kills his past self. If he died in the past, how can he possibly exist in the future, let alone time travel to the past to kill himself? Well, our hero, Tim Travers, brilliantly played by a relatively unknown actor named Samuel Dunning, sets out to test this very paradox. He travels back in time one minute, and kills his past self.
And…nothing happens. So, ever the vigilant scientist, he repeats the experiment several times, leaving a pile of identical corpses on the floor. He then decides to spare himself, and meets himself, and converses with himself, then keeps traveling back in time that same minute until the room is full of copies of himself. And what could an egocentric, brilliant scientist do with a roomful of identical copies of himself? Orgy, anyone? No, seriously, it fucking happens.
Meanwhile, there are sub-plots involving a conspiracy-theorist podcaster (Joel McHale), a girl (Felicia Day), an assassin (Jhon Goodwin), and a crime boss (Danny Trejo). Oh, yeah, and film legend Keith David sort of plays God. These actors all turn in strong, fun performances, but it’s the lesser-known Samuel Dunning in the lead role that gives this film true life.
I’ve probably given too much away, but I’m not sorry. I tell you what I need to tell you to convince you this movie is absolutely worth your time. Stimson Snead has crafted a wonderfully bizarre little film that is completely enjoyable. There are no wasted moments, no worthless performances, just storytelling gold looped minute by minute. His writing reminds me of W.D. Richter, and Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox is as wild a ride as The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai: Across the 8th Dimension or Big Trouble in Little China. It’s wild. It’s weird. And, for the moment, it’s streaming for free. You should try it.
