It has always been said that time is money, what if this was taken literally. The movie is set in a world where Time is literally the universal currency, time is transfer either directly or stored in time capsules. Whenever a persons timer reaches zero they instantly die, this is known as timing out. In this world several time zones exist that divide the people depending on the time they have. People are genetically modified to stop aging at 25 after which their clocks start ticking down, they are given a year before the countdown runs out to zero.
The movie focuses around Will Salas a 28 year old factory worker who lives in one of the poorest time zones, Dayton is a manufacturing ghetto where people rarely have more than a day on their clocks. Will works in a manufacturing plant and lives with his 50 year mother Rachel. One night while returning from his shift Will saves a drunk man pursued by a time stealing group of bandits known as the mintuemen. The drunk man introduces himself as Henry Hamilton a 105 year old man, he tells Will that the people in New Greenwich an elite Time zone are hoarding time. Hamilton gives all of his time to an asleep Will and times out by falling off a bridge.
Raymond Leon the leader of unit of time keepers assumes that Will killed Hamilton and robbed him off his time. Will visits his friend Borel who advices him to get out of Dayton, Will gives Borel 10 years of time. Will decides to leave to New Greenwich along with his mother, his mother however dies having exhausted her time paying off a loan. Rachel timed out as she didn’t have enough to pay for a bus ride whose prices were increased suddenly. Will vows to get revenge for his mothers death by getting back at the people of New Greenwich who control the world.
Will arrives in Greenwich and starts living a better life, he meets Phillipe Wise and his daughter Sylvia Wise at a casino. Will gambles his time and plays poker, he wins over a millennium from the game. Sylvia invites Will to a party, Will and Sylvia get pretty close before Raymon arrives to arrest Will. Raymond doesn’t let Will prove his innocence and simply confiscates all but 2 hours from Will, Will escapes to Dayton taking Sylvia as hostage.
Upon reaching Dayton, the duo is ambushed by the minutemen. The gang leaves the duo with 30 minutes each, Will attempts to get back some time from Borel but learns that Borel drank himself to death. They eventually manage to get a day each by pawning off Sylvia’s earrings. Will calls Weis to demand a 1000 tear ransom to be paid into the time mission for the desperate, an initiative for the poor. Weis refuses but Will releases Sylvia anyway, Raymond attempts to capture Will but Sylvia saves him.
Sylvia understanding the reality of the world decides to work together with Will to rob time banks and distribute time to the needy. They soon realise that they cant make any significant change as the New Greenwich residents just increase prices to compensate for the stolen time. The duo is again ambushed by the minutemen, Will defeats Fortis the leader and kills the rest of the thugs. The duo decides to rob Weis vault and distribute the time, Raymond chases the duo back to Dayton but times out as he forgets to download his day’s salary. The duo nearly times out themselves but them manage to save themselves by downloading Raymond’s salary. The duo continues robbing larger banks in an attempt to crash the system.
The movie brings an old saying to life, a really unique concept with an amazing execution. I’ll recommend the movie to every fan of science fiction, this movie also sheds some light on the hoarding problem of the rich. This problem is apparent in the real world too where the rich keep getting richer while the poor suffer. The movie has an excellent cast with Justin Timberlake as Will Salas, Amanda Seyfried as Sylvia Weis, and Cillian Murphy as timekeeper Raymond Leon.
