A.k.a Los Cronocrímenes

D/S: Nacho Vigalondo. P: Eduardo Carneros, Jorge Gómez. Cast: Karra Elejalde, Nacho Vigalondo, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga. UK dist (DVD): Studio Canal.

Timecrimes is an engrossing fusion of science fiction and horror, low on budget but high on imagination. In its obsessive love of temporal paradox and duplicated time-travellers it shares some similarities with Primer (2004), Shane Carruth’s indie puzzler much-admired in certain quarters for its elliptical (read: convoluted and obscure) narrative. Where Primer descended quickly into incoherence with its endless concatenations of paradox and an infuriatingly contrived air of cleverness, Timecrimes largely succeeds by maintaining a humorously ironic focus on its hapless protagonist and having the courtesy to keep its audience firmly in the loop.

Much of the appeal of time-travel fiction lies in the pleasurable accumulation of seemingly- insignificant details, which are later explained when seen again from another viewpoint. Primer amassed a jumble of detail but denied viewers the satisfaction of being able to put the pieces together, withholding key information that would enable a meaningful reading of what we were seeing. Timecrimes sensibly avoids this mistake, striking a good balance between complexity and clarity, and if the conclusion is ultimately more underwhelming than the premise deserves, it remains one of the more intelligent and entertaining science-fiction offerings of recent years.

The less revealed of the plot the better. Hector (Karra Elejalde) and his wife have just moved into their new home, backing onto an area of woodland surrounded by a wire security fence. Scanning the trees one day with his binoculars, Hector is surprised to catch a glimpse of a mysterious figure standing motionless behind the foliage. It’s a young woman, her face hidden: as Hector watches, she starts to strip, as if on the command of another who remains unseen. Alarmed, Hector goes to investigate…and is attacked in the wood by a homicidal maniac, his face swathed in pink bandages, wielding a pair of scissors. Eluding his assailant, Hector stumbles upon a futuristic-looking building which seems to be a scientific research complex – and soon finds himself embroiled in a reckless experiment with time…

Writer-director Nacho Vigalondo (playing also the role of the time machine’s inventor) seems to derive a sadistic glee from tormenting his hero, who becomes steadily more battered and bruised in his attempts to rectify the train-wreck of paradoxes spinning off from his actions. Like all time-travel films, the plot makes little or no actual sense in the cold light of day, but its convolutions nevertheless make for enormous fun. Those who demand multi-million dollar CGI-fests from their SF should probably not bother, but if you fancy exploring the nature of causality, seasoned with a healthy dollop of gratuitous nudity, terrifying bandaged psychotics and agonising twists of fate, Timecrimes fits the bill very nicely, thank you.