This Forgotten Justin Timberlake Sci-Fi Movie On HBO Max Deserves Your Attention

If you're in the market for a high-concept sci-fi popcorn flick that doesn't require a lot of intellectual investment, while serving up plenty of high-octane action sequences against a backdrop of eye candy extras, go ahead and add "In Time" to your HBO Max watch list. While it may not be one of the best dystopian movies to come out in the last two decades, the glossy thriller does have a few things going for it, starting with an easy-on-the-eyes cast featuring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, and Cillian Murphy. 

Set in a 22nd-century world that feels both thematically and aesthetically kindred to "Gattaca," "In Time" imagines a future in which genetic aging is a thing of the past and lifespan, controlled through technology, has become the universal form of currency with which individuals barter, bargain, and gamble. Upon each person's 25th birthday, the numbers of a countdown light up on their forearm. Everyone starts out with just a year left, dying instantly when their timer runs out, but all generally have the ability to earn or otherwise acquire more time, often transferring it directly from person to person. 

Timberlake stars as Will Salas, a factory worker who endures a rough life of hard labor and long hours amid his world's ever-increasing inflation. After a stranger gifts him more than a century of life on his way out, Will hooks up with a girl (Seyfried) who joins him in a "Bonnie and Clyde does Robin Hood"-style adventure.

"In Time" is not for you if you're a sci-fi snob or you're in the market for anything remotely cerebral. Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer ranks it a dismal 36%, with the Popcornmeter coming in only slightly higher with a 51% score. And IMDb's ratings manage to eke out a pitiful average of 6.7. Summing up the movie's rather extensive list of plotholes on r/movies, one Reddit user called "In Time" "a hilarious waste of great sci fi ideas," citing overplayed tropes like the "high stakes poker game, bad guys dressed in black leather, [and the] protagonist's father being some sort of folklore hero" as examples of the film's many crimes. 

But give into the wackiness of it all, and these failures become features rather than bugs. The film is pure sci-fi escapism, the kind that lets you turn your brain off, buckle up, and enjoy the ride. Even if the writing gets a little silly at times, it still ranks as one of Justin Timberlake's best movies. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have Olivia Wilde, Johnny Galecki, and a pre-Spock Ethan Peck round out the cast of this over-the-top, high-concept sci-fi flick.