Today’s quick review: Paradox. As part of a time travel experiment funded by the mysterious Mr. Landau (Malik Yoba), Jim (Adam Huss) travels one hour into the future, only to discover the lab in ruins, his colleagues dead, and a killer still on the loose. Returning to the present, Jim warns the others, launching a desperate attempt to uncover the identity of the killer and change a future that may already be set in stone.
Paradox is a sci-fi whodunit with a time travel twist. Trapped in a lab with a murderer, a time machine, and a short list of suspects, Jim and his fellow scientists must use the few clues at their disposal to piece together what is going on. Paradox manages an interesting setup, but its follow-through is lacking. The mystery proves to be less interesting than it first appears, and the film’s most interesting tensions simply fizzle out.
Early on, Paradox’s flaws are all typical for a budget sci-fi movie: subpar acting, clumsy dialogue, and unlikable characters. An intriguing premise holds the movie together for a while, but once Paradox starts giving answers, it breaks down quickly. The last third of the film is plagued by one ill-conceived revelation after another, and the movie hinges on a few dramatic moments that it lacks the acting or writing talent to carry out properly.
The result is a time travel movie that holds slight value for sci-fi fans but little for anyone else. The mechanics of the early plot are promising, a closed-environment mystery with a dangerous touch of predestination. But Paradox squanders its modest potential, drawing too much attention to its weaknesses and delivering a limp ending. Most viewers would be better off skipping it, barring some perverse enjoyment of the movie’s decay.
For a somewhat more competent budget time travel movie, check out ARQ. For a well-written minimalistic mystery without the science fiction component, check out Exam.
4.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.0 for a decent premise and poor execution.