Tomorrow is Yesterday is the Best Time-Looping Sci-fi Film You Don’t Remember Seeing
Butterfly effect-in-reverse dramedy to make its rounds in Hollywood…again
We’ve all witnessed how the looping structure of Groundhog Day has been mined over the last decade for every type of audience, such as Happy Death Day and Triangle for horror fans, Palm Springs for the college crowd, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things for those who enjoy YA fare, Russian Doll for lovers of edgier adult drama, Edge of Tomorrow for sci-fi fiends, Run Lola Run if you dig foreign experimental thrillers, and Boss Level for those who crave violent action. The premise is always the same — a person wakes up and relives the same day over and over again until science or God decides they’ve become a better person and then life returns to normal. There have been other variants on the premise too, such as Source Code and The Infinite Man where people are using technology to replicate a specific date, and 2:22 where only certain types of occurrences reoccur. Tomorrow is Yesterday is unlike any of these and instead turns the time loop formula on its head for a fresh take on the genre.
Starring Lana Condor, Tomorrow is Yesterday has the clock working backwards where she wakes up on the previous day, which continues day after day. While reliving the same day gives one time to create the perfect 24 hours, going backwards in time with one shot at each day presents its own set of challenges. For starters, who can remember everything they did a day ago, let alone a week, month, or year, which turns every second into a butterfly effect that can reshape the future.
While it has its comedic moments, like a well-trained dog whose behavior gets increasingly worse, the film takes the notion of time travel seriously and lets the laughs come from more organic situations that occur when you know how good or bad a day in your past was. It also shies away from a deus ex machina ending that is often the Achilles’ heel of less grounded time travel movies.
Knowing how to save the future comes with its own unique challenges since each day back makes it so one can’t see the impact of their actions beyond the day it takes place and attempting to change one bad thing might cancel out something good. One of the more difficult questions it poses is if a tragedy was tied to something both positive and significant in your life, would you avert that tragedy if given the opportunity?
The ensemble cast features an impressive gallery of actors who are adept at skirting the line between drama and comedy, including Steve Buscemi and Bob Odenkirk as rival scientists, while Zendaya is Condor’s best friend (and worst resource since she has memory loss issues due to an accident). Other core cast members are Steven Yeun and Janelle Monáe who showcase their versality given their recent string of more serious fare. As a true believer in the time-subtraction loop, Bruce Campbell delivers the biggest laughs which is augmented by the fact he is playing as himself.
One of most scene stealing characters is portrayed by Mark Hamill whose impressive range goes light years beyond Luke Skywalker. We’ve watched him grow as an actor in the highly underrated Brigsby Bear and its sequel, with this role expected to open up new doors in the same way Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta. Given the buzz for his performance at the SXSW premiere and the viral video of his hilarious QA session, award season is on notice.
Another inspired aspect of this film is the eclectic soundtrack with its fresh collaborations. Dua Lipa and Simon Le Bon manage to make a modern day 80’s hit, Monáe fronts a funky track with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and crushing the Spotify charts is “PSB (Power Suit B*tches)”, a female empowerment anthem that quashes any past beefs by bringing together Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B.
The question is where can you watch Tomorrow is Yesterday? Here is the thing, you can’t. It doesn’t even exist, or at least not at the moment. When I saw it, it was in theaters years from now, but every day that passes we are getting further away from that premiere. In fact, on the date this article was written the movie hadn’t even been cast yet. Even though I am reviewing the film, I am also the one who will be writing it. I had to do the review since nobody else has seen the movie yet and it is helping me put the pieces back together. I just hope my memory is strong enough to re-write the script as accurate as I did the first time since it has some killer dialogue and novel twists.
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