2067
Flowers from the Future
Even those who are not fond of science fiction know that one of its best known subgenres is time travel. To give you an idea, the IMDB site lists 2675 titles related to this subgenre. So, what can the Australian film “2067” (AUS, 2020) bring us new?
I confess that nowadays I feel some indifference to films and series about time travel, and the main reason is the excess of productions related to the theme. I am not a novice in the subject, one of the first books that I came across in my childhood was “The Time Machine”, by HG Wells. In the early 1970s, I watched many episodes of “The Time Tunnel” series (USA, 1966-1967).
Already a teenager, and with some critical vision of both science and science fiction, I wondered how it was possible to travel in time, to always arrive safely in places, and find everyone speaking the same language!
Over time, my repertoire on the subject grew, discovering that there were different lines of thought, whether the past could be changed or not, each hypothesis with its own defenders and arguments.
The theme provided us with great films and series, like the two versions of “The Time Machine”, from 1960 with Rod Taylor, and 2002 with Guy Pearce. We have the romantic “Somewhere in Time” (USA, 1980), the funny trilogy “Back to the Future” (USA, 1985), the intriguing “The Butterfly Effect” (USA, 2004) and the great series “11.22.63” (USA, 2016), with James Franco.
This entire preamble brings us to the initial question, what novelty can bring us another movie about time travel, when we think we have seen everything on the subject? Add to this the fact that it is a film outside the Hollywood circuit, with a relatively low budget and with a little known cast.
The “2067” world is eerily similar to ours. As a result of global warming, irresponsible rulers and unscrupulous businessmen, the world has practically become a desert, after colossal forest fires, exhaustion of water courses and annihilation of the population. The atmosphere has become unbreathable, and the most powerful company in the world is O2, an oxygen maker. To walk on the streets, people need special equipment, and respiratory diseases are the biggest cause of death on the planet.
It is in this world that we find Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a young O2 employee, who with his friend Jude (Ryan Kwanten ) form a maintenance team for nuclear reactors.
Their friendship has been going on for a long time, starting right on the day that Ethan was orphaned. His mother was murdered, and his father left without any word heard from him since. Today Ethan is married to Xanthe (Sana’a Shaik), a young elementary school teacher.
One day, Ethan is summoned by the company’s president. Without knowing what it is about, he is taken to a laboratory where he is presented with a strange machine that is said to be an opening in space-time. Most intriguing is the message that came from the future: “Send Ethan Whyte “.
Ethan is summoned to go to the future and bring the solution to the bleak situation of the present world. At least that is what one imagines of a civilization so advanced that it was able to send a message to the past.
After much reluctance, he accepts the mission, not knowing exactly what he will have to do. Upon arriving in the future he finds a lush forest, many abandoned facilities and a skeleton containing the same identification that he carries. This is just one of the many surprises he will encounter until he finds out the real reason why he was sent into the future.
“2067” was not very well received by the public, exactly because it differs from the commonplace of the Hollywood industry. There are no big action scenes, sexy supporting actresses, or a cast that looks like margarine advertising. But the money spent on the reduced scenarios, and selected special effects were very well employed, running – as it should be – as a complement to the film and not as a protagonist.
This film presents a scenario that can be considered by many exaggerated and alarmist, but considering only what is happening in the world in 2020, I have my doubts if it will take so long to get there.