Futra Days
Time travel has been a popular concept within the sci-fi genre for decades, ranging from the light-hearted adventures of the Back to the Future trilogy to Primer’s brain-bending exploration of paradoxes. Writer-director Ryan David’s Futra Days sets its sights on being more like the latter, opening the film with an abstract quote from mathematician Kurt Gödel. The plot follows music producer Sean (Brandon Sklenar) as he participates in an experimental treatment to travel forward in time to discover if his budding romance with aspiring singer Nichole (Tania Raymonde) will lead to anything. While the filmmaker makes the most of the grungy, low-budget aesthetic to deliver some striking visuals, its Eternal Sunshine approach to examining relationships lacks spirit and is often difficult to follow.
After Sean is strapped into the time machine (a chair with goggles and endearingly cheap VFX), he finds himself in the middle of a dinner date with Nichole. They’re having a great time, laughing and reminiscing about fond memories that this Sean hasn’t lived, before events become weird. The scene glitches and facts change as if someone is flipping through alternate timelines. It’s an intriguing introduction to this feature’s spin on the sci-fi trope alongside the central characters. However, it’s not long before the sheen starts to fade on both.
Although Sklenar and Raymonde can have genuine chemistry together, their interactions frequently come across as awkward and unnatural, with scenes going from wholesome to overdramatic within the space of a few seconds. They’re more like caricatures of a dysfunctional relationship rather than flawed people. This subsequently makes it difficult to connect with them on the same emotional levels as Carrey and Winslet’s lovers from Eternal Sunshine.
Whereas Michel Gondry connected each of Joel’s memories together with inventive editing and camerawork, which enabled viewers to follow the thread, David opts to cut to various moments of characters talking. Shots drenched in vibrant neon colours and periodic use of split screen inject some style into Futra Days; however, trying to make sense of the chronology or pinpoint what the filmmaker is trying to say is an almost impossible task. Deciphering the narrative only becomes more difficult in the second half when Sean finds himself in a flipped version of his own reality.
David takes huge swings with Futra Days. Unfortunately, he’s unable to translate his grand ideas into film.
Andrew Murray
Futra Days is released in select cinemas on 21st July 2025.
Watch the trailer for Futra Days here:
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