Good, but not nearly the masterpiece I’d been led to believe it was. I mean, the sound design is very good, the direction is great and the plot is crafted with clockwork precision. What’s more, the second act is pretty much a horror movie from the killer’s point of view and I found that watching him set up the jump scares, then deliver them without the requisite movie score jolts was quite refreshing.

Unfortunately, I have a hard time sympathizing with the main character, considering that most of this plot is set into motion by his own stupidity. Another problem is that anyone remotely familiar with Star Trek and/or Back to the Future will be ten steps ahead of Hector throughout most of the running time.

But by far the most egregious error is that the movie deals with its premise in a very superficial way. Only barely does the movie address predestination vs. free will or ask if time travel is worth the effort. The subject of time travel has been covered extensively in science fiction and I kept waiting for the movie to contribute something new, yet it never came.

Put simply, this film aggravates me because it could have been so much more. If the movie had a longer running time, a bigger budget or possibly another character or two, then maybe Nacho Vigalondo could have made a movie with ideas and scope to match the screenwriting and directing prowess shown here.