Time travel is a concept that has been captured on film since the eighties. We saw time travel in Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox and saw it yet again in The Avengers: Endgame. Brooklyn-born filmmaker, Stefon Bristol shows us his take on traveling back in time through the story of C.J, a young high school senior who rewinds to the last 24 hours to prevent her brother from being murdered by the police.
The movie follows the typical rules of time-travel that we have seen in so many movies before: do not change anything that could alter the future; do not run into yourself and do not try to fight your arch enemy. Yet, besides all the predictability, C.J and her best friend’s time travel experience send us a one-of-a-kind message — black lives still matter.
The movie shows us that even in a hypothetical world where time travel does exist, black bodies are still subjected to violence. We see this throughout the film in C.J’s various failed attempts to save her brother and when her best friend is also murdered in an armed robbery in one of their trips to the past.
Nonetheless, the film depicts a story of grief as we watch C.J battle with the idea that she can actually bring her brother back to life from the horrors of police brutality. It reminds us that black lives mattering is a conversation that is not over and we as a society must continue to have these conversations to confront our justice system. Check out the trailer below.
