Primer (2004)

A really impressive personal project by Carruth. The whole thing was made for $7000? That’s amazing.

The whole thing is shrouded in mystery from the start. These guys are smart, but what’s their background? They seem to be some sort of engineers, but no hint is given of their educational background or careers. It’s not clear what they’re trying to build at first. They keep calling it “it”, which is a cute storytelling technique but gets old. Soon, the mystery is overtaken by wall-to-wall geek talk. It’s hard to keep up. It all seems very smart, but perhaps it’s a bit too smart for me.

Interesting and authentic performances from non-actors, with some nice long takes that really let them run. The omniscient, deadpan voiceover sounds like Neo’s from the Matrix.