“Primer” is the best time travel movie, and it only costs $7,000

If ever a film came to fruition through the sheer force of one man's will, it would be 2004's. Primer is this. For three years, the creator Shane Carruth (who was in his early twenties) wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in and wrote the music for this incredibly innovative and super grounded sci-fi, all on a budget of $7,000. Primer would go on to win the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred P. Sloan Prize and become a beloved science fiction cult classic.

Primer is the story of Aaron (Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan), two engineers who accidentally stumble upon time travel while working on other projects in Aaron's garage. The time machine itself is a simple, cramped box made mostly of PVC – no shiny DeLoreanNo Dimension-hopping TARDIS – but what makes this version of time travel unique is that to travel through time, the traveler must spend a equivalent the time spent inside the box. In other words, to travel six hours into the past, you have to spend six hours in the box.

Immediately after their discovery, Aaron and Abe are extremely careful not to influence the past during their brief travels through time, fearing consequences they cannot even guess at. But eventually, the temptation to change history becomes too great, and Aaron in particular becomes obsessed with his ability to dictate the outcome of events. This creates multiple, complex, intertwined timelines and ultimately leads to a rift between the two characters.

Primer

Four friends/startup entrepreneurs, knowing that there is something bigger and more innovative than the various error-checking devices they've built, fight over their new invention.

Release date

January 16, 2004

Cast

Shane Carruth David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya, Carrie Crawford, Jay Butler

Duration

77 minutes

'Primer' Can be difficult to follow

Primer East reputed to be cerebral, refusing at any time to hold the audience's hand. Both protagonists speak obscure physics jargon throughout because Carruth was adamant that the dialogue had to appear authentic. Tight (and sometimes perhaps excessive) editing remains Primer fast pace; no one will grasp all the details of this complicated plot the first time through. Primer is also very light on exposition – characters often have long conversations about topics for which the audience, at least initially, has no context. It's only in the final third of the film that the voiceover penetrates more strongly and begins to explain things, albeit often in a cryptic manner.

Between the complexity of the story, the jargon and the rhythm, Primer can be a challenge to follow; some critics even called him “antagonistic” towards the audience. But that wasn't Carruth's goal. Instead, as Carruth told IndieWire“the information is there” to create a coherent story; this might require multiple viewings so that you have everything. But unlike some modern filmmakers who don't trust their audiences to make inferences and prefer to explain everything, Carruth trusts not only his audience's intelligence, but also their courage – perhaps a little too much at times.

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If Primer was an unlikely success, so its creator was an equally unlikely filmmaker. Carruth has a degree in mathematics and began his career as an engineer before quitting to devote himself to writing. (This training would prove useful during the writing of the screenplay, although Carruth had to learn physics jargon in read graduate student papers online.) With no formal training in filmmaking, he taught himself screenwriting, cinematography, and storyboarding while directing. Primer. Carruth said during his interview with IndieWire that he never planned to star in the film; he presented himself as one of the Primer's lead only because he had trouble finding an actor who played the role the way he wantedwith subtlety rather than drama, and with its ultra-reduced budgethe worried that someone else might cut in and run away in the middle of filming, leaving them stranded.

Perhaps surprisingly, acting is one of the Primerthe greatest strengths of. Carruth or Sullivan (who went on to have an extensive and successful television career) are present in every scene, so the film rests entirely on their shoulders. Both performances are spare and understated, but there's plenty of subtext lurking just beneath the surface.

How was “Primer” created?

After months of rehearsals, filming took place over five weeks around Dallas, where Carruth was living at the time. Primer was shot on super 16 film; Carruth said during his interview with IndieWire that he had considered going digital, but in the early 2000s the technology was not yet there to create the look he wanted. However, this meant there was no budget for multiple takes. After filming was completed, Carruth did the editing himself, learning the process again as he went and often having to edit due to lack of footage and continuity errors. He also composed the score, a task he said he would like to give to someone else next time.

In a way, the story of Primer reflects the story of its creation. Before their revolutionary discovery, Aaron and Abe, like Shane Carruth, are short of money; they even vandalize their own cars and refrigerators for spare parts in their quest to create something people will want to buy. Carruth also had to take shortcuts due to lack of fundsusing his friends and family's homes and apartments for many locations, relying on ambient lighting and sunlight, filming only one take for many scenes because he couldn't allow film to be wasted.

And like his character, Carruth claims to be a “control freak.” Primer start following four engineers working on patents in Aaron's garage, but as soon as Aaron and Abe realize what they have stumbled upon, Aaron insists on eliminating their two unwitting colleagues rather than telling them the truth. He also doesn't reveal the secret to his wife, to Abe's surprise. And Aaron is the first to try to use the time machine to change the past, which led to him falling out with Abe. Carruth performed every job during manufacturing Primer partly because he couldn't afford to hire anyone else, but also because he couldn't bear to give up control.a quality he makes no apologies for, because, as he says during his interview with IndieWire, “it's important to have a strong regard for the material you're working on.”

The low budget provides an “introduction” a documentary sensation

The result? Primer's ultra-low budget contributes to its grounded realism – there's no Avengers: Endgame or even Back to the future– stylish special effects, and the main characters never travel more than a few days into the past, so sophisticated sets are unnecessary. Instead, Primer feels incredibly real, even documentary-like (contributing to this is the fact that the actors clearly haven't had their hair or makeup done by a professional and appear to be wearing their own clothes). Watching Primerwe can really believe that if two intelligent but ultimately ordinary guys it happened during a trip back in time by accident, that's exactly how it would happen.

After PrimerAfter the Sundance success, it had a very limited theatrical release, playing in no more than 31 theaters at a time within a few months. still grossing over $400,000 at the domestic box office. PrimerThe DVD release the following year quickly catapulted it to cult classic status, particularly among science fiction aficionados. Its complexity contributes to its rewatchability: After your third, fourth, or tenth viewing, you'll still pick up on details you didn't notice before.

Primer is not for the timid movie buff; it asks more of its audience than most films, and gives less. But serious science fiction fans and fans of films that make you think should consider it a must-read – and don't feel bad if you have to Google “End of the primer explained” after the fact.

Primer is available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+ in the United States

Rent on Prime Video