Time Cut struggles to match up to other films in the same horror comedy genre

Lucy's life takes a bizarre twist when she accidentally time travels from 2024 back to 2003 just days before her older sister Summer is set to die.

Time Cut starts out introducing Summer in 2003 establishing that Summer is already facing the aftermath of three of her friends dying, and it does not take long for Summer to meet her untimely end as well, which jumpstarts the rest of the film.

Jumping ahead to the present day, Lucy is a teenage girl who was born a few years after Summer had died, but her parents were never able to let Lucy flourish on her own while Lucy feels Summer's looming shadow over her shoulder.

But, when Lucy joins her parents on their annual visit to Summer's memorial near the spot where Summer was killed, things change when Lucy is accidentally sent to the past just in time to be able to prevent 2003's murders. To stop the murders and return to her own time, Lucy teams up with Summer's science genius friend Quinn, who holds his own romantic feelings for Summer but also struggles due to being bullied by his classmates.

Time Cut has plot threads that have plenty of room for emotional tension, but sadly, they never actually commit to allowing those storylines to flourish.

Lucy's parents were clearly traumatized and devastated by the loss of Summer, and their fear of losing Lucy is prominent in their refusal to easily allow her out of their sight, even when she earns a summer internship at NASA. It is an amazing opportunity, but not even that is enough for Lucy's parents to feel comfortable letting Lucy explore the world.

Lucy does hint at the detached relationship she has with her parents, who are far more light-hearted, carefree, and joyful in 2003. But, Time Cut's decision not to spend too much time on Lucy's relationships with her family remove any sort of significant emotional stakes in the rush to get her back to her present time, especially as Time Cut does not provide a strong connection in her timeline that shows Lucy has something to go home to.

The emotional stronghold of the movie comes when Lucy realizes that she inevitably must choose between her life and Summer's life upon the confirmation that her parents had no interest in having two children. If Lucy allows Summer to die, then she can return home to her parents, and the devastating knowledge that they have never shown her the same joy that they have shown Summer. But, if Lucy saves Summer's life, then Lucy has no home to return to in 2024 because her parents never would have had her. Lucy's struggle to accept the possibility of giving up her life to save her sister is the movie's best and most complicated concept, and one that tries to earn the film points for originality.

For fans of horror comedies, Time Cut is very easily compared to Amazon Prime Video's Totally Killer, but the foundation of the time travel element is not as well used in Time Cut.

In Totally Killer, Jamie's use of the time machine comes because her friend had built it for a science project, and thus Jamie knew it was there while running away from the killer, even though the actual use of the time machine had been an accident. Since the movie already establishes its existence, when Jamie ends up using the time machine, it is easier to follow.

In the Netflix film, Lucy's time travel origin is far too forced as Lucy stumbles upon the time machine in an abandoned barn after it had just been used. It is just sitting there, and rather than adding stakes by having Lucy's life being under threat and having her use this device as an escape, Time Cut writes the scene for Lucy to have no qualms or concerns about hitting random buttons on the machine she has no knowledge how to use, even if she is smart.

There is a stark difference here, as Jamie's use of the time machine in Totally Killer is entirely about her rush to survive against a killer in a strive to save her life, in comparison to Lucy in Time Cut, who just appears to be interested in the technology.

Of course, it all comes down to the plot twist killer ending, and it unfortunately lacks the motivation or satire to keep this movie afloat. In an outlandish twist of events, the killer turns out to be a future version of Quinn.

The future portrayal of Quinn goes on to explain that being thrown in the river, the exact event Lucy had prevented early in her arrival in 2003, had been the moment that had ultimately destroyed Quinn's life, and getting romantically rejected not long later by Summer had been the last straw. So, out of anger and desire for revenge, he goes on a killing spree and then disappears mysteriously through time as the murderer is never found.

But, if Quinn's motivation came from being bullied by Ethan and laughed at by Summer, then why did Quinn bother to kill the other three characters? Why was Ethan, the primary bully, never killed? The film's logic for Quinn's motivation is off, acting instead as if the movie wanted a big plot twist but had not thought it through all the way. Yet, that might not even be the least sensical part of the conclusion.

Even though Lucy had arrived home, due to saving Summer already, her parents had no memory of who she was, because in the new timeline, they never had a second child. Due to that, Lucy never existed at all, which leaves her without any friends or other family members, even though none were introduced in the first place.

Lucy's decision to remain in the past also sparks several confusing questions. Lucy would not have a birth certificate, school transcript, or any proof of existence, so how did she apply for an internship with NASA in 2003? Where does Lucy live in 2003 if Lucy and Summer's parents never find out who Lucy really is? Are they ever told the truth?

Unlike other horror comedies, Time Cut has nothing unique to say about creating satire about the differences between the past and the present or the tropes of predictable events in horror films. This one, while it may be an enjoyable watch to pass the time, does not hold up to other movies of the same genre.