Summary
- "Time Cut" uses time travel to explore a sibling's tragedy.
- The movie's intense premise, solid characters, and surprising ending make it stand out.
- Viewers witness Lucy's emotional journey as she navigates family, life, and death.
The Netflix horror movie Time Cut uses the familiar trope of time travel to explore the story of two sisters who were born 20 years apart: Lucy (Madison Bailey) and Summer Field (Antonia Gentry). Although Lucy never knew her sibling, she knows that Summer was a victim of the Sweetly Slasher's killing spree in 2023, which is a tragedy that her parents have understandably never moved past. Lucy comes across a time machine and accidentally goes back to the early 2000s, and she tries to save her sister's life.
Time Cut has an intense premise and solid characters, with some lighthearted moments along the way, and the third act has to answer several crucial questions. The ending of Time Cut addresses the identity of the Sweetly Slasher and answers whether Lucy can save Summer. It also has a few surprises along the way.
What Happens At The End Of Time Cut?
Lucy, Summer, and Quinn (Griffin Gluck) decide to go to the party from the opening scene and stop the killer from murdering Summer. They think that if they can kill the Sweetly Slasher, they can try to save both Summer and Lucy. When they try to drive away from the killer, he takes off his mask and Future Quinn is revealed as the Sweetly Slasher. Quinn traveled back in time to 2003 to kill everyone who bullied him and made him feel like a loser. He also wanted to kill Summer since he was in love with her and she rejected him. This unpredictable reveal makes Time Cut an interesting take on a modern slasher movie.
Lucy and Quinn travel back to 2024 and end up in a creepy parking garage. Lucy stabs Future Quinn, which stops the Sweetly Slasher's killing spree and saves Summer. But, while it seems like Lucy will disappear since she realizes that her parents only had her because they were replacing Summer, Lucy still exists.
Lucy shows up back in 2003 and tells Lucy that when she went back home, her parents didn't know who she was. Although Lucy created a paradox when she saved Summer, she still exists. She decides to stay in 2003 so she and Summer can get to know each other better and she achieves all her dreams, including getting an internship at NASA.
Time Cut has a twist on the typical ending of many slashers, including some great horror movies from the 2000s. Most slashers would end with Lucy surviving and the final shot would show her after killing Quinn. Time Cut has a happy ending and shows a peaceful montage of Lucy and Summer spending time together and moving on with their lives.
What Is Time Cut About?
Time Cut follows Lucy's story as she ends up in 2003, wants to save her sister's life, and realizes that she wouldn't be alive if Summer hadn't been killed. That would be a heavy and difficult thing for anyone to learn, but since Lucy is a teenager, it's especially brutal. The movie explores her friendships with Summer and Quinn along with her desire to leave her small town and work at NASA. Like the best horror movies on Netflix, Time Cut has smart characters who are fun to follow along with. Viewers will want to see Lucy succeed as she's a good person who has felt neglected for a long time.
Time Cut may be a horror movie about time travel on the surface level, but it's also about serious themes of family, life, death, and how someone can forge their own path. However, it still has many tropes from time travel sci-fi movies, including a character talking about paradoxes and a mysterious machine. It's interesting to watch Quinn explain to Lucy that if she changes one thing, she'll change a lot of other stuff, too. She has no idea if she's going to make a huge mess, but she knows that she has to try. Whether standing up to Future Quinn or figuring out a plan with 2003 Quinn, who is still a kind and caring person, Lucy shows her mental and physical strength.
It's interesting to watch Lucy learn more about her family and get the chance to meet Summer. She has heard about her since she was little, and of course, she knows the tragic way that Summer's life ended. But Lucy never thought she would have the opportunity to explore her family background this way.
As director Hannah MacPherson told Netflix.tudum.com:
“Lucy has to literally choose between her sister’s life and her own existence. I just thought that was so brilliant. To be able to dig into the thematics of family — what are we willing to sacrifice?”
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