‘Aporia’ Review – A Gut-Wrenching Sci-Fi Outing

Time travel movies. The mere mention of this jumping off point will no doubt elicit groans and a few eye rolls. For every brilliant movie like Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, there are a slew of convoluted messes. Yet, every once in a while, a filmmaker can craft something new and exciting out of the well-worn story device. Aporia centers around Sophie (Judy Greer), a woman who is slowly putting the pieces back together after tragically losing her husband to a drunk driver. Only adding to this, now Sophie must raise her daughter Riley (Faithe Herman), who is clearly deeply affected by this as well.

The now single mother is at her wits’ end, until a ray of hope presents itself. A close friend of hers, Jabir (Payman Maadi), claims that, through an invention that she and her husband worked on, he can prevent the collision. The catch? By doing this, it means killing the drunk driver in the past to change the outcome. Basically, the machine doesn’t allow the person to go back in time, but rather to be able to remotely kill someone in the past. The pair bring her husband back, yet Jabir has been using the machine behind Sophie’s back. Now the trio must deal with the grave ramifications of their actions.

The best movies are ones that can take these extremely overused tropes and recontextualize it into a spider’s web of moral gray areas. Director Jared Moshe puts up a mirror to the audience and confronts them with the difficult question: how far would you go to save a loved one? Would you feel good about taking another in trade? It’s also a Frankensteinian tale in disguise, with themes of bringing back the dead and what it means to use science to play God. It’s an extra layer that elevates the narrative greatly.

On the face of it, the idea of a time traveling assassination machine may feel strange, if not silly. A hurdle to be sure, yet it’s Moshe’s whip-smart writing that makes this lofty premise feel surprisingly grounded and easy to digest. It also helps that the world the filmmaker creates feels incredibly authentic, and it never completely goes off the rails. The film also thrives in keeping its action and emotional set-pieces intimate and relatable, despite its wild premise. Couple this with well thought-out production design and cinematography, and you have a rich lived-in world. Speaking of which, the machine itself is a marvel of junkyard assembled madness, that recalls the grimy and disturbing films of Shinya Tsukamoto.

National treasure Judy Greer truly shines here. Greer can find the wonderful and bittersweet nuances that further ground us in this fantastical tale. A standout moment is when her character Sophie reunites with her husband, confirming that the machine does indeed work. She wrings out every drop of emotion without ever going over-the-top. It’s a tight balancing act that speaks to her range as an actor. This goes for all the actors, and thankfully there isn’t a sour performance here. As great as the movie is, there are some plot elements that feel rushed or not as developed as they could have been. The overall pacing is solid but could use a tighter and more focused approach.

Aporia is an excellent cerebral take on time travel and bigger themes of playing God. This is fertile ground for a highly inventive film, and the filmmakers handle it in a way that is clever and heartbreaking. Adding Judy Greer in the lead takes this to another level. Sure, it has some missteps, but ultimately this is a fantastic and gut-wrenching sci-fi outing.

Aporia is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of Well Go USA. The film will be available on Digital, Blu-Ray and DVD on September 12, 2023. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeNWUsC_Nw]