TIME TRAVEL LOVER: When Hannah Met Matt, and Matt, and Matt

Time travel can be a tricky plot device. Stories can defy their own time travel rules or become so convoluted that you struggle to follow it at all. With the hundreds of movies that feature different aspects of time travel, it can also be difficult to bring a fresh, original idea to the screen. The short Time Travel Lover, directed by Bo Mirosseni and written by Elisha Yaffe (who also plays the title character), mixes sci-fi and humor in a relatively unique manner. When Matt (Yaffe) and Hannah (Stephanie Hunt) come home for some quality alone time, they’re surprised by a blast from the…future. Check out this brilliant little film below.

I love all the different “versions” of Matt popping up non-nonchalantly. There’s no exposition for the time travel, just the acceptance that this future version of himself materialized from thin air with news from various points in the future. The humor plays well between the initial accusations and Hannah’s reactions to what is being said about her and the future of the relationship. The camera work was also handled superbly, stitching together the conversation between the Matts and allowing the dialog to feel as natural as it can be, considering he’s talking to his future self.

It may only be my opinion, but I feel like the specific event of One-Month-Matt coming back to warn himself is the cause for Three-Month-Matt to show up, smitten with Hannah after a one-night stand. You can almost imagine Hannah getting drunk one night and contacting Matt from her time (who turns out to be Three-Month-Matt) just to spite One-Month-Matt from the initial incident. Wait, did you follow that? Poof, One-Year-Matt shows up crying foul again, calling Hannah crazy, being accused by a past self of being “off his meds.” It’s enough to make your head spin, but the pacing and movement of the story is perfect, keeping you engaged and aware of who identifies with what feelings.

But that’s not all, the humor even gets a little darker when Matt and Hannah’s future child shows up asking them to avoid the future altogether so that he doesn’t have to go through with offing himself after dealing with such terrible parents. Tuxedo Matt pops in, jovial over Hannah’s pregnancy, his future suicidal son sitting in the lap of his wife from the past. Maybe “little darker” isn’t the correct description.

I can’t imagine the process of mapping out the dialog, the constant shots of Matt talking to Matt talking to Hannah talking to her future son and so on. For a non-feature length production, they really pack in the humor, emotion, and ultimate decision of each character. As Hannah realizes she has to call the whole thing off before anyone else shows up, the future Matts and her future son blink out of existence, or back to their concurrent timelines, or who knows where. The short is incredibly well crafted. For such a short video to touch on such an array of character issues and interactions across time like that, you have to admit Mirosseni and Yaffe both have promising careers ahead. This video gets an A for effort and a 10/10 as far as short films go. To cover so much in 10 minutes and have it be relatable, understandable, and entertaining is quite the accomplishment.

Did you find the use of time travel as refreshing as I did? Do you think this could be fleshed out into a feature length film? Let us know what you think in the comments and check out some of our other short film discussions here.

(top image source: Time Travel Lover – Partizan)