Time travel as a moving picture subject has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the past decade or so. The final chapters of the Avengers movies (especially the associated Loki series) are likely the most well-known franchise exploring the idea while incorporating the many-worlds thesis. DC does the same thing through The Flash with a slightly different (but more interesting) interpretation. On Apple TV+, there is Dark Matter adaption although it is primarily less about time travel and more about the idea of many-worlds. On Netflix, there is the insanely complicated German sci-fi Dark that requires anybody to draw up a chart to keep the story straight.
So I would think it is only natural the same fascination with time travel would hit the Malaysian film scene. It comes in the form of Reversi. That is not to say the local industry had not explored the theme before. There is XX-Ray all the way from 1992. Whether there is anything since then (notwithstanding XX-Ray sequels), the layperson in me is unaware.
I watched Reversi in the cinema recently, on the account that I thoroughly enjoyed Imaginur and that both are starred by the same lead actor, Beto Kusyairy.
But to appreciate the two-hour+ long Reversi, one must suffer an hour of tedium coupled with rude audience afflicted with boredom… before the work reveals its brilliance somewhere in the middle of the story. Just in its second week of release, Reversi was already put up in small cinema halls with an even smaller watching crowd. The slow hour was enough to have some members of the audience to be rude by scrolling their brightly lit phone or conversing above whispering level as the movie dialogue pushed its way.
When the brilliance came, it came as a shock therapy, smashing the boredom and pulling the audience’s attention back to the silver screen. That brilliance is the fact that Reversi is not a simplistic time travel story in the style of Back to the Future or XX-Ray. It is one of many-worlds with central branch that all other possible branches gravitate toward. If a person goes back to change a decision in the past, he would create a new branch where events there would attempt to mimic the consequence realized within the main branch. Fate refuses to be changed by too much.
I had trouble accepting the premise. Explanation given by various characters in the movie are dissatisfying. Questions flew everywhere in my head and so engrossed was I that I began getting distracted by my attempt at rationalization.
Before I went too deep inside the rabbit hole, I remembered that all fictions require a little bit of the suspension of belief if they are to be enjoyed. So, I pulled up and understood that my search for perfection was becoming the enemy of good.
I stepped back in mind, sat straighter in my seat and savored the brilliance of the second hour.
It is impossible to discuss Reversi without talking about the influence exerted by other movies.
The futility of changing history runs parallel to the message of The Flash. The Flash is a terrible movie but its interpretation of many-worlds is interesting enough for me. In this way, Reversi implemented the idea in a much, much better way. If you strip the many-worlds aspect, Final Destination does come to mind too.
The inheritance of time travelling ability along family line sounds familiar, but I cannot for the life of me recall the exact movie. (I’ve been informed this is About Time.)
And I think the influence of Everything Everywhere All At Once could be seen in the background. The clearest reference is the scenes where Beto Kusyairy’s character time travelling; I see Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn Quan Wang jumping across realities.
