It’s Hard to Relax, Dammit!
Relax, I’m from the Future
2023 Director: Luke Higginson
Starring: Rhys Darby, Gabrielle Graham, Julian Richings, Janine Theriault
Time travel in film has been around for decades and these type of movies come with at least two internal rules that time voyagers must follow. One: keep the locals you meet in the dark about your origins. And two: do not make changes in their lives. These two guidelines go hand-in-hand. The point is to be non-invasive, maintain the status quo, and avoid changing history. In the “Star Trek” franchise, this is known as the Prime Directive. “Relax, I’m from the Future,” a Canadian comedy, dares to break these cardinal rules (yay!).1
Fast-paced and audacious, “Relax” tells the story of Casper (Darby), who journeyed back two hundred years simply because he was bored and lonely. In what seems like an explosion, he emerges in a colorful space suit running toward some kids playing street hockey. He scares the heck out of them, which prompts a protective dad to coldcock him one, just as he delivers the film’s title line. Few movies begin as abruptly and comically as this.
Casper meets and befriends Holly (Graham), apparently, a disenchanted slacker. She thinks that doing something that would actually matter is too much work. He tries to reassure her, “What if I were to tell you that everything does work out?” He reveals that “things do get a lot better,” and that there’s actually a plan (Wait, you’re not supposed to tell her all that, right?). She doesn’t believe anything he says. . . yet.
Holly changes her mind about Casper when he tells her what sporting events to bet on and lottery numbers to play. We’ve all been there. If we knew the future, wouldn’t we at minimum be tempted to take advantage of this prescience? Casper cautions her, however, that this must be done sparingly, without grand payouts so as to avoid suspicion. There’s something commendable to their deadbeat attitude that reflects Wall Street’s use of insider information.
Stuff gets complicated when they meet Percy (Richings), an artist whose work will become important posthumously. But then Percy refuses to commit suicide and no one else wants to help him along with this. . . except Doris. Doris (Theriault), unbeknownst to all, is also a time traveler/cop who, like the Sphinx, poses an unsolvable riddle and eliminates those who don’t have the right answer.
As mentioned, “Relax” rejects standard conceits about time travel. There are no time machines and apparently we can’t change destiny. Also, there are no “multiverses” available to us. If that wasn’t enough, the plot becomes convoluted and we mere mortals are left to sort through these issues. But, in a way, the film’s complexities and inconsistencies reflect life itself: there is no one single truth, no direct path to enlightenment. Nevertheless, “Relax” resembles other futuristic adventures in its tendency toward the philosophical. For instance, when Casper arrives in our era, he’s unfamiliar with our procedures and objects, and states, “Nothing is simple. Everything seems designed to be slightly frustrating.” He makes a good point.
Copyright © 2024 by Rosi Prieto, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved
See also my essay, “Time Travel in the Movies and Other Dilemmas”: https://www.meetmeatthemovies.com/p/time-travel-in-the-movies-and-other-a6a