Time travel is all the rage these days. Maybe it’s because the present moment feels so… not great? Time travel is an angle, and today, it’s one of the key distinguishing elements that can successfully set a slasher movie apart. Not to go full Roger Ebert, but he was correct, broadly, when he noted a slasher (dead teenager movie) really just needed some teens and a masked killer. The core is tough to iterate upon, but a dash of high-concept plotting can make a decades-old formula feel fresh. No wonder the totally killer slasher film, Time Cut has managed to successfully reach number one on Netflix. Check out a trailer and synopsis below:
Per Netflix: A high school student accidentally time-travels from 2024 to 2003, arriving just days before her teenage sister is murdered by a masked slasher.
To get it out of the way now, Time Cut wrapped filming before Prime Video’s parallel chart-topper, Totally Killer. While Totally Killer was released an entire year before, it was filmed later. Movie production and release woes and all that. Of course, the two films share more than just a premise—as has been reasonably pointed out online, the killers’ masks in both are remarkably similar. So much so, you might feel like you’ve traveled to 2023, not 2003, and caught a Totally Killer redux instead.
Otherwise, Time Cut does endeavor to do its own thing, and tonally, it’s not all that similar to Totally Killer. It’s more earnest, less propulsive, and (painfully) retreads a decade not regularly seen in the filmmaking space. That’s right, 20 years ago wasn’t the 1980s… it was 2003. I’m sorry to say. Resultantly, Time Cut gets some sick Hilary Duff needle drops and some (questionably authentic) recreations of early aughts fashion. The kids will be asking what those crazy square devices are. They’re iPods (though unless you were stinking rich, you didn’t have one in 2003).
Still, despite the trades suggesting horror fatigue from 2025 onward, the genre remains as strong as ever, and Time Cut’s sensational success on Netflix points toward a continued interest in the horror genre writ large. Fans online have also been loving the film. While some have rightfully pointed out some anachronistic elements, younger audiences especially are having fun with the slick time travel slasher thrills. Check out some choice reactions below:
I don’t know how to explain it but this feels like what a 10 year thinks 2003 was like and not actually what it was like. There’s something unauthentic about it. There’s something missing https://t.co/gNOVUqPSaY
— . (@simsimmaaz) October 31, 2024
Time Cut is kinda terrible but fun and i can always appreciate a fear street-esque secret lesbian twist pic.twitter.com/XLZNkSWg4H
— girl twink (@poeticinemaa) November 2, 2024
My biggest takeaway from #Timecut, now streaming on Netflix, is that you all really needed some actual millennials on set in charge of the production design and costumes because nothing in this movie resembles 2003 lol pic.twitter.com/PL4Y3PvsAq
— codyallen.bsky.social (@somedudecody) November 1, 2024
i love how the coloring changed when she went back to the 2000s. that was a great touch to show that life was brighter back then #TimeCut pic.twitter.com/L6Rf6tpo6k
— jake ? (@bdayrems) October 30, 2024
#TimeCut was cute but it didn’t make any sense and it was too short. Netflix shouldn’t try this again. Watch Totally Killer instead ??
— the cat’s pyjamas ? (@PenelPixie) November 1, 2024
time cut… im glad totally killer stole the scenario and made a better movie pic.twitter.com/UoRR13rShX
— inez ☆ (@librafiction) November 1, 2024
Time Cut on Netflix was not that bad… and the ending was cute and wholesome. Y’all some haters, not everything has to be so accurate or logical. I mean it’s a literal movie about time traveling… ?
— Spread kindness. (@HeyyitssSarahh) November 1, 2024
Just finished watching Time Cut on Netflix and while it might not be the best movie I’ve ever seen, it’s campy stop hating lol
— luigi (@LuigiGrosu) November 1, 2024
Time cut is really a good movie I was just tuned in
— THE BLUEPRINT ? (@_xoxoc__) November 6, 2024
Time cut might not be a good horror film but it has olivia rodrigo, good soundtrack, pretty divas kicking ass and lesbians and sometimes that’s all a girl needs pic.twitter.com/eH3UWlQelN
— Hay Bishop DeLuca Yvonne’s pr manager (@RandomHosie) October 30, 2024
Yeah, Time Cut will never fully escape Totally Killer’s shadow, but if you’re up for it, you might find something to like. So, let me know what you think. Did you like Time Cut? How does it compare to Totally Killer? Share your thoughts with me over on Twitter @Chadiscollins where I’ll otherwise be musing about Hilary Duff’s Metamorphosis being one of the best pop albums of the century.
Categorized:News
