* * C
2067 is a dystopian future/time travel science fiction film made in Australia. The premise is a little weak: All plant life has somehow died off, and humans are dying out due to the low concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere. The last remaining city, powered by a temperamental nuclear reactor (fusion, presumably), survives by supplementing their air with “synthetic oxygen”, presumably oxygen separated from hydrogen by electrolysis.
The story revolves around Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a nuclear power technician whose scientist father abandoned him as a child. He is summoned to the research division of the corporation generating the city’s oxygen where they reveal that they’ve built a time machine and received a message from 400 years in the future specifically requesting that they send him.
The film, an Aussie production, is fairly low budget, but does a good job with what it’s got. The acting is solid. The writing is a little weak, particularly the science. My biggest issue with the film is the direction. Time travel is tricky, and you have to be careful not to lose your audience. This is one of the rare cases where a director has perhaps chosen a little to light a touch.
I was able to follow the plot, and found it satisfying, but I wish it had been just that much better. If you like a good science fiction story, you’ll probably enjoy this film.
