Predestination is one of the rare movies that I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I still kept thinking, “What the hell?” There are a ton of visual cues if you pay attention. Predestination is based on a short story written by Robert A. Heinlein, which I must read. Predestination is ostensibly about a time traveling agent trying to prevent a bombing in NYC in 70s that will kill thousands, but it is actually about the nature of identity and how it changes through time.
Predestination has elements that will remind you of Terminator, 12 Monkeys and even Looper (though I hated Looper and I loved Predestination), but unlike all those movies, there is more internal drama like Booth at the End than action. Predestination also reminded me of a certain Greek myth that has become a part of our daily vocabulary. Sign that you’re getting older: watching a period movie and realizing that you lived during that historical period. The acting was amazing, but I think that if the filmmakers made Predestination ages ago with a young baby-faced Leo DiCaprio, he would have knocked it out of the park. Wait a decade then resume filming.
I’m still left with questions-a lot of them and not knowing some key biological and scientific facts may be the source of a lot of those questions. Why does the agency exist? What is the point? Are all agents similar or are there no other Temporal Agents? I think that if time is seen as a circle instead of a line, i.e. past, present and future exists simultaneously, the narrative does not fall apart. If I was less obsessed with the mechanics of the story, I think that the deeper meaning of Predestination would not have eluded me. Also I wonder if I should have been looking for any Calvinistic references given the title. Probably requires repeat viewings, but my dance card is full for now.