2017 film by Paul Currie
2:22 is a 2017 science fiction thriller film directed by Paul Currie, written by Nathan Parker and Todd Stein, and starring Michiel Huisman, Teresa Palmer and Sam Reid. The film's plot involves air traffic controller Dylan Branson, who, thanks to a mysterious anomaly at 2:22, prevented the collision of two aircraft and met Sarah, whose destinies appear to be tied to the time 2:22. The film was released in theaters and on VOD on June 30, 2017.[3]
Plot
Dylan Branson works as an air traffic controller at John F. Kennedy International Airport; he possesses the ability to visualize constellations and patterns, and though he has a pilot's license, he has a fear of flying. He has a recurring dream of a shooting occurring at Grand Central Terminal at 2:22 p.m. At work, Dylan begins hallucinating at 2:22 p.m, only able to break out from his fugue state just in time to prevent a collision between two planes. Following this, he is suspended from work, pending a full board review.
Dylan begins to realize that the same things happen to him at the same time every day, and by 2:21 he somehow arrives at Grand Central Terminal, where—although not the same individuals—he always sees the same type of people: a businessman reading a newspaper, an older couple embracing, a party of school children, and a pregnant woman standing alone under the clock. At exactly 2:22 p.m, an electrical malfunction causes the station glass to shatter.
At an aerial ballet, Dylan meets Sarah, who works at an art gallery with her ex-boyfriend Jonas and was a passenger on one of the nearly collided planes. Dylan and Sarah have the same birth-date and feel connected to each other, falling in love.
One evening, Dylan attends Sarah's gallery to see an exhibition of Jonas's work, a holographic depiction of New York which includes the interior of Grand Central. Dylan is shocked that the holograph depicts the same events he saw in his recurring dream. He accuses Jonas of following him to create the hologram, leading to a fight, ending with Sarah asking Dylan to leave.
Dylan learns through Sarah's colleague the story of a singer, Evelyn Mills, who was killed by her lover at Grand Central Terminal 30 years ago in 1986. The lover also shot a policeman before he was killed. Dylan finds a packet of old letters hidden in his apartment, which reveal that a man called Jake Redmond once lived there. The letters are love letters to Jake from Evelyn.
Dylan tracks down Catherine, Evelyn's sister. She tells him how Evelyn fell deeply in love with Jake, who shared her birthday. A detective visited Evelyn to warn her that Jake was a criminal, but she refused to believe him, and he too was killed by Jake at Grand Central Terminal. Catherine thinks the detective, Noah Marks, was also in love with Evelyn. She gives Dylan Evelyn's own letters to Jake.
Dylan believes the supernova which occurred on the day of Jake and Evelyn's deaths 30 years ago, the same day he and Sarah were born, and is now happening again, created a “cosmic cataclysm" so he and Sarah are destined to relive Jake and Evelyn's fates. When Sarah visits, she disbelieves his theory but Dylan is convinced that if they stay together, he will kill her on the anniversary of the Grand Central murders. A distressed Sarah confides in Jonas and asks why he chose Grand Central Station. Jonas persuades her to go to Millhurst with him for a while. Dylan contemplates suicide, but stops when he sees a plane.
On his 30th birthday, Dylan discovers that the same patterns he had experienced occurred to Jake on the day he died. He breaks into Jonas's studio, where he finds dozens of depictions of Sarah, a necklace identical to Evelyn's, and an empty gun case. Realizing that Jonas is obsessed with Sarah and planning to relive the Grand Central Terminal murders as Noah Marks, Dylan rushes back to the terminal. The police pursue him when he stands on a cop car to get there.
After their flight is cancelled, Jonas buys tickets at Grand Central, where Sarah begins to see the same characters that Dylan described. It dawns on her that she is the pregnant woman under the clock and she refuses to leave with Jonas. In a jealous rage, Jonas calls her Evelyn, and Sarah realizes that they are reliving the same fateful day. Dylan arrives and Jonas pulls a gun, first aiming at Dylan but fires at Sarah. Dylan shields Sarah from the bullet, taking the hit himself and saving her life. Jonas is then shot and killed by the arriving police officers.
It transpires that Jake and Evelyn (who was herself pregnant) were shot by Noah, who was in love with her. Jake killed Noah while trying to protect himself and Evelyn, and was framed by the police.
In the end, Dylan has recovered and now works as a pilot. He and Sarah live happily together with their baby.
Production
2:22 was produced by Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic, Walk The Walk Entertainment's Steve Hutensky and Lightstream Pictures' Paul Currie. Garrett Kelleher of Lightstream, David Fountain and Kel West of Flywheel Entertainment and Jackie O’Sullivan served as executive producers. Although the film is set in New York City, the actual filming location was in Fox Studios Australia and Moore Park in Sydney, Australia.[6]
Armie Hammer was attached to the film,[7] before Huisman took on the role.[4][8]
Release
Released on June 30, 2017, 2:22 grossed $3.9 million worldwide.[9]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 9 critics.[10]
Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com wrote: "With a movie like this, it's hard to tell where the good idea ran out, as it seems to have been lost many drafts ago."[11]
Todd Jorgenson of Cinemalogue wrote: "The many contrivances diminish the potential for emotional investment in the characters - or figuring out what's happening to them and why."[12]
Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com gives the film a grade "D" and writes: "Currie can't connect the dots in a fascinating way, with the entire effort resembling more of a screenwriting exercise than a hypnotic overview of celestial guidance."[13][14]
Edward Douglas of Film Journal International called the film "An intriguing exploration of fate vs. circumstance and coincidence that ends up being far better than it should be, but only if it's not taken too seriously."[15]
Danielle Solzman of Solzy at the Movies wrote: "If Groundhog Day had been made as a thriller, it's possible that 2:22 could have been that film."[6]
