Primer Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 2997

Average Rating: 2.8/4

# of Ratings: 96

Theatrical Release Date: 10/08/2004

Language: English

Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Shane Carruth

Actors: David Sullivan, Shane Carruth, Casey Gooden, Samantha Thomson, Carrie Crawford

Plot: A pair of engineers create a mysterious machine that at first they are not sure what it is, but once they understand it they know they have something special, but become consumed with it and are not able to scale themselves back.

SIngli6 - wrote on 11/29/2021

I get it that I don't get it. I just hate it.

Unknown - wrote on 07/15/2013

Another low finance/high concept small film that delivers on it's premise. The narrative is structured perfectly to the 'time travel' plot. Things do become clearer after a repeat viewing, but enough is understood on the first watch to appreciate. The science behind it all is complex and explained as streamlined as possible. Though, you will need to have full attention and brain power for this one. What's most uniquely entertaining about 'Primer' is watching the two main characters consistently covering their tracks and working around their own loopholes.

mitchellyoung - wrote on 07/19/2011

It's amazing the level of intrigue and suspense that can be built on such a shoe-string budget. My only complaint (and it isn't really a complaint) is that the film is too smart and I guarantee you will need a second or third viewing to fully grasp the sci-fi theories that are being thrown around. Props for an original and pretty believable take on time travel.

Matthew Brady
Movie God

Primer is both intelligent and a mind bender

Matthew Brady - wrote on 08/12/2015

Primer is one of those movies that you should never watch once, as I fear a confused moviegoer will not understand the movie for their first time viewing, but maybe they may understand it a little bit on the second viewing. If not the second time maybe the third time. If you still don't get then well keep watching, because you might have missed something that's rather brilliant. That's basically what I did when I first watch this movie as I felt that I came across something unique and something worth talking about. It's a bit like when Roger Ebert first came across 2001: A Space Odyssey and he felt like he came across something that's worth talking about and worth sharing.

Primer in my opinion is one of the most intelligent and probably the best movie I've seen in years. This isn't …

Daniel Corleone
Movie God

Primer review

Daniel Corleone - wrote on 08/29/2012

In this rater's opinion, this picture is a cross between Back to the Future, The Prestige and a David Lynch movie without the necessary spectacular special effects. The key in comprehending this movie is by understanding the method of how the box works and where the "doubles" are. Aaron (Shane Carruth), Abe (David Sullivan) accidentally creates a machine that travels through time and that a watch experienced about 1300 times the amount of time the device was activated for. The pair manipulates this machine to become rich by in vesting in stock market. This has got to be one of the best movies done on time travel. The primary formula in making this type of movie work are the believability of the artists and intellectual dialogue despite not having any spectacular effects in the …