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Netflix's Time Cut is a DISASTER! Rotten Tomatoes Score is BRUTAL. Should YOU Watch This Time Travel Horror?

Netflix's Time Cut: A Total Time-Travel Train Wreck?

Time Cut: Is Netflix's Latest Horror Attempt Worth Watching? (Spoiler Alert: Probably Not!)

Netflix dropped a new horror flick, Time Cut, right after Halloween and it immediately landed at #2 on their Top 10 list!  That's impressive. Yet here’s the big surprise: unlike many Netflix horrors that were actually pretty good; Time Cut totally bombed. Seriously!

The simple answer regarding whether you should actually watch this movie is this – no. It’s exceptionally bad. I'm serious, the general consensus of critics and even audience members confirms this as a terrible attempt. Go read their reviews, you’ll agree! The entire concept of trying to appeal to a demographic that largely wasn't alive during 2003 (its time-travel setting), fails completely. The attempted recreations of early 2000s trends and fashions feels very, very awkward and incredibly fake. It doesn’t really nail those early 2000s vibes at all. There’s this glaring inauthenticity in those nostalgic attempts that just misses its target; completely destroying all hope this particular genre of films needs for actual relevance and emotional impacts that otherwise are achievable in these particular instances.

We're talking 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, a terrible 40% audience score and a dismal 5/10 on IMDb. It's blatantly obvious that this movie only exists because it uses an algorithm– picking actors from popular teen shows (Outer BanksMadison BaileyGinny & Georgia's Antonia Gentry, and Locke & Key's Griffin Gluck) to hopefully leverage success; sadly, none of that magic could've been saved; not by simply throwing popular actors together. That's transparent; you’ll realize immediately it lacks any significant plot potential.

Time Cut's Plot: Back to the Future…But Way Worse

Is Netflix’s New Horror Movie, ‘Time Cut,’ Worth Watching? Image

The premise?  High schooler Summer (Gentry) gets killed by a masked killer back in 2003.  Fast forward to 2024; and we're following Lucy (Bailey), Summer's sister; and dealing with that immense grief; the emotional trauma and grief of that loss and still living with its consequences decades later, something never really tackled successfully by other movies!

Lucy finds this time machine in that very spot where Summer died; and travels back; to try saving Summer. Her actions? These also carry some incredibly dark implications.  If Lucy saves her sister, Lucy wouldn't even exist in her present, making for an incredibly difficult situation to even properly explore effectively within its time constraints; demonstrating a profound understanding of moral and ethical choices surrounding the choices made.

Time Cut tries using time-travel tropes, yet they are totally lazy and unimaginative. The movie feels way, way more like that Scary Movie parody of time-travel horrors. Despite those relatively decent actors (who try very hard!), none of that cleverness and dramatic prowess saves those issues highlighted in this entire review. And those choices result in underwritten and terribly used parts in otherwise really amazing, skilled actors; highlighting that an actor can’t save every project.

The Twist Ending (and Why It Doesn't Work)

Time Cut review – tinny time-travel Netflix slasher offers too much deja vu Image

Time Cut is entirely predictable! It follows tropes almost entirely and we’ve seen this in other movies such as Totally Killer, and the impressive Fear Street trilogy and also those impressive time loop themes.  The killer's reveal? It's the Future Quinn; an utterly expected twist, with those kinds of predictable story moments that are almost childishly written. There was an attempt to bring those interesting nuances, that dramatic build-up— something lost throughout those other plots!

That changed 2024 timeline at the end leaves that huge unanswered question: Where’s Lucy? It’s a nonsensical end– showing that lack of effort which is extremely frustrating; not simply because the entire ending itself is completely unremarkable; its predictable and fails to create suspense or dramatic effect or provide answers to previously established and easily achievable narratives! Even its attempts to tie loose ends are half-heartedly approached. That entire decision doesn’t work; not by providing satisfaction, or even offering answers; only leaving even more questions behind.

Conclusion: Skip Time Cut— It's Not Worth Your Time

How Does 'Time Cut' End? Unpacking the Final Minutes of the Netflix Thriller Image

Time Cut had huge potential.  Time Travel + slashers = massive hits; right? Not here!  It wastes that early 2000s nostalgia, uses every time-travel trope you could ever think of and ultimately delivers one disappointing result! Don’t watch this! It might initially surprise you due to some key performances from really capable actors– they simply didn’t make it work! It just really isn't good.

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