By the year 2067, Earth has been ravaged by climate change and humanity is forced to live on artificial oxygen. An illness caused by the synthetic O2 is killing the worlds’ population and the only hope for a cure comes in the form of a message from the future: “Send Ethan Whyte.” Ethan, an underground tunnel worker, is suddenly thrust into a terrifying new world full of unknown danger as he must fight to save the human race.
When it comes to science fiction movies, especially independent ones, it’s hard for a director not to show their influences. After all, with the likes of Ridley Scott, James Cameron, George Lucas, Roland Emmerich, and Luc Besson, to name but a few, filmmakers who have already put their visual stamp on the genre, you would be hard-pressed to find an indie film with no inspiration from them or others in their respected field. With “2067,” while director Seth Larney was obviously heavily influenced by Ridley Scott’s seminal “Blade Runner,” and fills his movie with visual nods to Scott’s masterpiece, thankfully, that is all they are, acknowledgments of what has become before in celluloid representations, indicating an uncertain future we have yet to inhabit. Early on, we are introduced to flying machines and larger-than-life billboards, visual confirmations of “Blade Runner” but they serve one purpose, to remind us how far Earth has deteriorated over time, and that we will undoubtedly, eventually, sooner than later, destroy ourselves before the sun ever will as we continue to use up all of earth’s natural resources. It’s in mankind’s DNA to not take no for an answer, even when our very lives are dependent on it.
The film begins in the titular year of 2067 after the earth has been devastated by climate change, so much so that all remaining humans live on synthetic oxygen, manufactured by the Chronicorp corporation. Every continent on earth has been wiped out except for Australia. We are introduced to Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a tunnel worker for the city’s power plant, as he digs his way through the earth along with his best friend Jude (Ryan Kwanten). Ethan lives with his girlfriend Xanthe (Sana’a Shaik), who suffers from a deadly affliction known as The Sickness, a terminal side effect from inhaling Chronicorp’s tainted synthetic oxygen. When he is called into the office of Regina Jackson (Deborah Mailman), Chronicorp’s Chief Technology Officer, he is told that his scientist father Richard (Aaron Glenane), who died a few years earlier, was working on a top-secret assignment to create a prototype time machine called a Chronicom. Once operational, he received a radio signal from over 400 years in the future that specifically stated “Send Ethan Whyte,” adding he is the only person who could prevent the extinction of mankind. Ethan is told that they have enough energy to send him on a one-way trip to an uncertain future but one where he will be able to save the remainder of mankind.
Not wanting to leave Xanthe, she manages to persuade him into going, saying that he has the chance to save the world and that he might be able to find a way back from a future that will unmistakably be more proficient in the use of modern technology. Reluctantly, he agrees and upon arriving, passes out from the effects of time travel. When he awakens, he is surrounded by a lush, green rainforest that is strangely absent of any type of life. Using a portable hand computer named Archie, he locates the entrance to a bunker with a skeleton in a jumpsuit lying outside its main entrance. Upon further inspection, he sees a bullet hole in its skull and realizes that the jumpsuit is identical to his, and even has his name on it. He tries to enter the building but the door won’t budge. As night approaches, he starts a fire and tries to settle down for the night, and unbeknownst to him, eats poisonous berries. Shortly thereafter, he begins to vomit, violently, and just as he is about to die, a figure comes towards him and he passes out. When he wakes up, he is surprised to see Jude standing in front of him. He tells Ethan that they were able to monitor his life readings from the past and when they saw he was dying, they managed to send him into the future so he could help save him.
With Archie’s help, they manage to locate another structure, a Chronicom lab where his father must have received the message from the future, asking them to send Ethan. As both men work on relaying a message back to the past to inform them that they arrived safely, and are working on trying to establish a point of contact, the image of Ethan’s future self, lying dead with a bullet hole in his head, continues to haunt him. When Ethan gets into an argument with Jude and in a moment of desperation, Jude pulls a gun on him, Ethan suddenly realizes that it must have been him that shot his future self as there is nobody else around. As Ethan tries desperately to assess his situation, wondering why the message requested that he be sent as earth’s savior when he can’t even figure out what’s going on around him, he slowly succumbs to the realization that he has been here before, numerous times, and that the final outcome, no matter what he does or says, always ends in his death. Determined to make it work this time, for Xanthe, and the rest of humanity, he takes drastic steps by agitating Jude to the point of him pulling out his gun and threatening to kill him but he begs him to not follow through on his anticipated response, explaining to him that it will change nothing, but will it be enough?
“2067” warns us of an impending extinction that only we can prevent but this is not drilled into our heads, ad nauseum. The entire story hinges on a future where we have destroyed ourselves but also the determination of one man from the past, who has the opportunity to save himself, or sacrifice himself for humanity’s sake, and chooses to go with the latter, and if just one person can make that choice, then we all can. The film takes place in one central location but thankfully, director Seth Larney has the resourcefulness to keep the story revolving, and evolving, so as to keep his characters, and his audience, on their toes. Films that deal with time travel can cause headaches for those who try to overthink them too much, namely, the causal loop paradox, whereby a specific moment in time repeats itself continuously and its origin cannot be determined. In other words, the events of the future depend on changing the events of the past but how does the time loop start if there is theoretically a version of the past that remains unaltered by the future? See what I mean? To enjoy “2067,” just go along with the time travel aspect, much like “The Terminator,” “Back to the Future,” and “Avengers: Endgame,” this element makes the whole ride a lot more enjoyable.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD November 17th from RLJE Films
