Predestination (film)

Predestination
File:Predestination poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	The Spierig Brothers
Produced by	The Spierig Brothers Tim McGahan Paddy McDonald
Screenplay by	The Spierig Brothers
Based on	"'—All You Zombies—'" by Robert A. Heinlein
Starring	Ethan Hawke Sarah Snook Noah Taylor
Music by	Peter Spierig
Cinematography	Ben Nott
Edited by	Matt Villa
Production company	Screen Australia Screen Queensland Blacklab Entertainment Wolfhound Pictures
Distributed by	Pinnacle Films Stage 6 Films
Release dates	8 March 2014 (2014-03-08) (SXSW Film Festival) 28 August 2014 (2014-08-28) (Australia)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$5.4 million

Predestination is a 2014 Australian science fiction action thriller film written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, and Noah Taylor, and is based on the 1959 short story " '—All You Zombies—' " by Robert A. Heinlein.

Plot

As a time-travelling agent disarms a bomb, someone tries to stop him and a gunfight ensues. The agent reaches the bomb again, but it explodes, burning his face. Someone helps him grasp his time-travelling device, which transports him to a hospital in 1992. The agent recovers from facial reconstruction and symptoms of psychosis. He has been trying to prevent an attack by the so-called "Fizzle Bomber" in New York City in 1975. After his recovery, he receives his last assignment.

The agent travels to 1970 New York. As a bartender, he starts a conversation with a customer who writes true confession articles under the pen name "The Unmarried Mother". This pseudonym is explained by his life story.

Born female, the customer grew up as Jane in a Cleveland orphanage. She excelled in her studies but had difficulty fitting in. Jane decided any children she had would be raised in a proper family and avoided relationships. As an adult she joined Space Corp, which promised women the chance to go to space while providing astronauts with intimate R&R, but was disqualified because of an undisclosed medical condition that greatly interested a man named Robertson.

In 1963, Jane met a man who was waiting for someone. The two fell in love, but one day the man disappeared. Robertson later approached Jane, revealing that Space Corp was a part of the Temporal Agency, which wanted to recruit her. They broke off contact when Jane became pregnant with her ex-lover's baby. While performing a Caesarean section, doctors discovered Jane was intersex. Complications during the birth forced them to remove her female sex organs; she then underwent gender reassignment and began living as a man named John. Her baby was stolen by a mysterious man, and John has lived a bitter life writing fiction as "The Unmarried Mother".

The agent offers to take John to the day that Jane met the man who became her lover and left her, so that John can kill the man for ruining Jane's life. In return, John will take over the agent's job. The agent reveals his time-travel device and the two jump to 1963 Cleveland. While waiting for Jane's lover, John encounters Jane, and as they talk, John realizes that he is the man who becomes Jane's lover. The baby born from this self-fertilization is stolen by the agent, who takes the baby to 1945, leaving the child at the orphanage where Jane was raised. Jane, John, and their baby are the same person, a predestination paradox.

The agent goes to 1975 New York and helps his burned self. The agent then returns to 1963, a few months after he dropped John off. He convinces John to leave Jane, and uses his time machine to take them both to the Temporal Agency in 1985. John takes over the agent's job so the agent can retire in 1975 New York, close to the day of the Fizzle Bomber's attack. The agent discovers that the time-travel device does not decommission itself as planned and can still be used. Following orders, he goes to a laundromat at the moment the Fizzle Bomber will be there. The Fizzle Bomber turns out to be the agent's future self, suffering from psychosis from continued time travel. The Fizzle Bomber insists that his actions saved more lives than have been lost because he bombed places before potential mass murderers could use them. He tries convincing the agent that the only way to end the cycle is for the agent to spare his life, but the agent kills his future self.

As the agent stares at the time-travel device, it is revealed that John is the man who traveled to 1975 New York and was burned while disarming a bomb. His facial reconstruction in 1992 changes his appearance, and Jane, John, the agent, and the Fizzle Bomber are the same person. This agent's creation was orchestrated by Robertson to create an agent with no ties to time. This temporal agent was responsible for both his own conception and death; he has driven the predestination paradox to its limit. The agent wonders if he can ever escape this loop.

Cast

• Ethan Hawke as Agent Doe (listed in film's end credits as "The Barkeep")
• Sarah Snook as Jane/John (listed as "The Unmarried Mother")
  • Monique Heath as 10-year-old Jane
  • Olivia Sprague as 5-year-old Jane
• Noah Taylor as Mr. Robertson
• Madeleine West as Mrs. Stapleton
• Christopher Kirby as Agent Miles
• Freya Stafford as Alice
• Jim Knobeloch as Dr. Belfort
• Christopher Stollery as The Interviewer
• Tyler Coppin as Dr. Heinlein
• Rob Jenkins as Mr. Jones
• Ben Prendergast as Dr. Clarke

Production

Development

The film is based on the 1959 short story "—All You Zombies—" by Robert A. Heinlein. At one point in an internal monologue in the film, the narrator quotes the story title. On 14 May 2012, the Spierig brothers—who had already written a screenplay—were announced as the directors of Predestination. Peter Spierig explained in August 2014 that they remained close to Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 short story. They did not try to take apart the logic of the more than 50-year-old narrative: "... so we [Spierig brothers] worked on the [premise] that if there was a way to pick apart the logic, over that time it would have been done by now. We kind of say, 'let's trust the short story and trust that logic', so we stuck very closely to it."

Hawke was selected for the lead role, while Wolfhound Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment collaborated to produce the film. Hawke explained in November 2014 that he is a longtime fan of the science fiction genre, but prefers its human elements, rather than special effects:

Whether it's Robert Heinlein, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, H. G. Wells or whoever ... that kind of mind-bendy science-fiction where you can really attack themes in a new way. And when I read Predestination it was like: "What the f*** did I just read?!"

Distribution

Arclight Films had bought the international rights to the film, and on 18 May 2012, Tiberius Film attained the German rights to the film from Arclight. On 23 May 2012, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the American and some international rights to the film.

Financing

On 5 September 2012, Screen Australia announced that it would finance the film as part of a A$4.8 million (US$3.6 million) investment in three feature films.

Casting

On 28 February 2013, Snook signed on to star in one of the film's lead roles, followed by Taylor, who joined the cast of the film on 13 May 2013. Also in 2013, Pinnacle Films secured the Australian and New Zealand distribution rights to the film.

Filming

On 19 February 2013, pre-production was scheduled to begin on 25 February 2013, while shooting was scheduled to begin on 8 April 2013 in Melbourne, for a duration of six weeks. By 13 May 2013, filming was underway. Filming predominantly took place at the Docklands Studios Melbourne facility, located approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from the city of Melbourne's Central Business District (CBD). Some scenes were shot at the Abbotsford Convent, located in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, the foyer of 333 Collins Street, the University of Melbourne old quad, and at the RMIT Design Hub.

In regard to Snook, the Spierig brothers explained to the media that they always seek to cast a lesser-known actor in their films. Michael Spierig later compared Snook's acting ability to that of fellow Australian actress Cate Blanchett. They also said that they prefer to film in Australia, with its rebates and incentives, but will film in any geographical location.

Release

Predestination's global premiere was held on 8 March 2014 at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, US. The film was then selected for the opening night gala of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), held at the Hamer Hall venue on 31 July 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. The MIFF promotional material described Predestination as a "distinctive blend of sci-fi, noir and crime fiction with a Bukowskian streak." The Sydney premiere of the film, which also featured a live Q&A session with the directors, occurred on 6 August 2014 at the Palace Verona cinema.

The film went on general release in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2015. Following the release of two trailers, and a seven-minute excerpt that was published on 3 December 2014, Predestination premiered on 9 January 2015 in the United States.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film had a score of 84% based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9 out of 10. The site's critical consensus stated: "Fun genre fare with uncommon intelligence, Predestination serves as a better-than-average sci-fi adventure—and offers a starmaking turn from Sarah Snook." The film also has a score of 69 out of 100 on Metacritic based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Variety magazine's review of the film called it an "entrancingly strange time-travel saga" that "succeeds in teasing the brain and touching the heart even when its twists and turns keep multiplying well past the point of narrative sustainability." In anticipation of the MIFF opening night's screening, the Sydney Morning Herald's National Film Editor Karl Quinn called Snook's performance a "career-making role". In terms of the plot, Quinn states that it is "intriguing" even though it could "unravel at the slightest tug on a thread of loose logic."

The lead character was variously described as transgender or intersex in different media articles. Hawke told The Guardian that transgender issues are not the focal point of the film, but rather that the narrative is relevant to all people: "There's something about Predestination that actually does get at identity, for me".

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject	Result
AACTA Award (4th)	Best Film	Paddy McDonald	Nominated
		Tim McGahan	Nominated
		The Spierig Brothers	Nominated
	Best Direction		Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay		Nominated
	Best Actress	Sarah Snook	Won
	Best Cinematography	Ben Nott	Won
	Best Editing	Matt Villa	Won
	Best Original Music Score	Peter Spierig	Nominated
	Best Production Design	Matthew Putland	Won
	Best Costume Design	Wendy Cork	Nominated
AFCA Awards	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Director	The Spierig brothers	Nominated
	Best Screenplay		Nominated
	Best Actress	Sarah Snook	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Ben Nott	Nominated
ACS Award	Award of Distinction		Won
FCCA Awards	Best Film	Paddy McDonald	Nominated
		Tim McGahan	Nominated
		The Spierig brothers	Nominated
	Best Director		Nominated
	Best Screenplay		Nominated
	Best Actress	Sarah Snook	Won
	Best Cinematography	Ben Nott	Nominated
	Best Editing	Matt Villa	Won
	Best Music Score	Peter Spierig	Nominated
	Best Production Design	Matthew Putland	Won
Toronto After Dark Film Festival	Special Award for Best Sci-Fi Film		Won
	Special Award for Best Screenplay	The Spierig brothers	Won
	Audience Award for Best Feature Film		2nd place

See also

• List of time travel science fiction
• List of LGBT-related films
• I'm My Own Grandpa, a song mentioned in Heinlein's story and partially heard in the film.

External links

• Predestination at IMDb
• Predestination at Box Office Mojo
• Predestination at Rotten Tomatoes
• Predestination at Metacritic